Antony spoke in verse, feeling his way forward until he can make a direct attack on the conspirators by whose leave he speaks. He appeals to reason of the crowd; Caesar is charged with ambition, but what he won in war he gave to Rome. Caesar sympathised with the poor in time of famine; three times he refused the crown – subtly refuting the charge of the conspirators that Caesar wanted to be king. Then Antony appeals to the emotion of the people – he breaks off his speech in real grief. He appeals to their gratitude – if they know about Caesar’s will. But before this he looks at the holes torn in Caesar’s mantle, a mantle Caesar wore for the first time after his most famous victory for Rome. Antony said he is no orator but, if he were an eloquent speaker, he would move the very stones of Rome to mutiny. Antony’s speech:

                ‘Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.

                I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.

                The evil that men do lives after them;

                The good is oft interred with their bones,

                So let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus

                Hath told you Caesar was ambitious.

                If it were so, it was a grievous fault,

                And grievously hath Caesar answered it.

                Here, under leave of Brutus, and the rest, -

For Brutus is an honourable man,

So are they all; all honourable men, -

Come I to speak in Caesar’s funeral.

He was my friend, faithful, and just to me;

But Brutus says he was ambitious,

And Brutus is an honourable.

He hath brought many captives home to Rome,

Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill;

Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?

When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept.

Ambition should be made of sterner stuff,

Yet Brutus says he was ambitious,

And Brutus is an honourable man.

You all did see that, on the Lupercal,

I thrice presented him a kingly crown,

Which he did thrice refuse. Was this ambition?

Yet Brutus says he was ambitious,

And, sure, he is an honourable man.

I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke,

But here I am, to speak what I do know.

You all did love him once, not without cause;

What cause withholds you then to mourn for him?

O judgement! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,

And men have lost their reason! Bear with me,

My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar,

And I must pause, till it come back to me.’

Here Antony paused for effect – to allow all he has been saying sink in. And the people began to think that there seems a lot good sense in what he is saying. Then Antony continued:

‘But yesterday the word of Caesar might

Have stood against the world; now lies he there,

And none so poor to do reverence.

O, masters, if I were disposed to stir

Your hearts and minds to mutiny and rage,

I should do Brutus wrong, and Cassius wrong,

Who, you all know, are honourable men.

I will not do them wrong; I rather choose

To wrong the dead, to wrong myself and you,

Than I will wrong such honourable men.

But here is a parchment, with the seal of Caesar;

I found it in his closet; its his will;

Let but the commons hear this testament,

Which pardon me, I do not mean to read,

And they would go and kiss dead Caesar’s wounds,

And dip their napkins in his sacred blood,

Yea, beg a hair of him for memory,

And dying, mention it within their wills,

Bequeathing it as a rich legacy

Unto their issue.’

Antony paused again to a rancorous shout of ‘we will hear Caesar’s will.’ And then he continued:

‘Have patience, gentle friends; I must not read it. It is not meet you know how Caesar loved you. You are not wood, you are not stones, but men; And being men, hearing the will of Caesar, It will inflame you, it will make you mad. It is good you know not that you are his heirs, For if you should, O what would come of it?’

Brilliant and perfect timing! At this point the crowd started calling Brutus and Cassius traitors. And Antony asked them to make way for him around Caesar corpse to see what makes the will:

‘If you have tears, prepare to shed them now,

You all do know this mantle. I remember

The first time ever Caesar put it on.

It was on a summer’s evening in his tent,

That day he overcome the Nervii.

Look, in this place ran Cassius’ dagger through;

See what a rent the envious Casca made;

Through this, the well-beloved Brutus stabbed,

And, as he plucked his cursed steel away,

Mark how the blood of Caesar followed it,

As rushing out of doors, to be resolved

If Brutus so unkindly knocked, or no;

For Brutus, as you know, was Caesar’s angel.

Judge, O you gods, how dearly Caesar loved him!

This was the most unkindest cut of all.

For when the noble Caesar saw him stab,

Ingratitude, more strong than traitors’ arms,

Quite vanquished him; then burst his mighty heart,

And in his mantle muffling up his face,

Even at the base of Pompey’s statue,

Which all the while ran blood, great Caesar fell.

O what a fall was there, my countrymen!

Then I, and you, and all of us fell down,

Whilst bloody treason flourished over us.

O now you weep, and I perceive you feel

The dint of pity. These are gracious drops.

Kind souls, what weep you, when you but behold

Our Caesar’s vesture wounded? Look you here!

Here is himself, marred, as you see, with traitors.’

This was Antony’s sucker punch – for the crowd shouted, ‘O piteous spectacle’ and weep with emotional rage to kill, to burn all conspirators. But Antony still has a few more aces up his sleeve:

‘Good friends, sweet friends, let me not stir you up

To such a sudden flood of mutiny.

They that have done this deed are honourable.

What private griefs they have, alas, I know not,

That made them do it; they are wise, and honourable,

And will, no doubt, with reasons answer you.

I come not, friends, to steal away your hearts;

I am no orator, as Brutus is.

But, as you know me all, a plain blunt man

That love my friend; and they know full well,

That gave me public leave to speak of him;

For I have neither writ, nor words, nor worth,

Action, nor utterance, nor the power of speech,

To stir men’s blood. I only speak right on.

I tell you that which you yourselves do know,

Show you sweet Caesar’s wounds, poor, poor dumb mouths,

And bid them speak for me; but were I Brutus,

And Brutus Antony, there were an Antony

Would ruffle up your spirits, and put a tongue

In every wound of Caesar, that should move

The stones of Rome to rise and mutiny.’

The will is then read at this point – to every Roman citizen, Caesar left seventy-five drachmas – here was a Caesar! When comes another? The crowd was inflamed – they rush away to burn and kill all the conspirators. Antony said to himself, ‘Now let my words have their effect. Destruction has began. Let it go on now as it pleases.’ And Antony then goes to meet Octavius: they must take the opportunities which fortune offers. The rest is history.

I. L. SAMBO ESQ.

ATTORNEYS-AT-LAW, ARBITRATOR &

CAPITAL MARKET CONSULTANT.

Abuja – Nigeria.

EMAIL: ilsambo@yahoo.com

21/12/2011

Albert Einstein – The Nobel Prize in Physics 1921, Albert Einstein was born at Ulm, in Württemberg, Germany, on March 14, 1879.

Shakespeare –  he was Born on 26 April 1564 (birth date is not confirmed though)

Stratford, Warwick shire, UK , Died 23 April 1616 at the age of 52. One of the best play- writer, poet, actor

Walt Disney - Walter Elias Disney was born on December 5, 1901 in Chicago Illinois, I can not imagine the world, especially for children without Walt Disney. 

Henry Ford- Henry Ford was born in 1863 in Dearborn, Michigan and died in 1947 his aim was “I will build a car for the great multitude” 

Socrates. Greek philosopher of Athens. Famous for his view of philosophy and as man  who lived for a pursuit proper and necessary to all intelligent men, he was one of the greatest examples who lived by his principles. He had to sacrifice his life for his principals.

M.K. Gandhi-  Born on 2nd October 1969 and died in January 1948.  He used to say “I cannot teach you violence, as I do not myself believe in it. I can only teach you not to bow your” heads before any one even at the cost of your life

Imagine being stuck in a world where everything a normal person does is wrong, like having monogamous relationships. That is the Brave New World. They control everyone’s minds by a process called hypnopaedia. The world controllers start with young by whispering messages that are meant to mislead people like “[Alpha Childen] work much harder than we do, because they’re so frightfully clever. I’m really awfully glad I’m a Beta, because I don’t work so hard. And then we are much better than the Gammas and Deltas. (27).” That is like racism but not race but class. They also have a kind of drug called soma. If anyone feels sad or unhappy about anything in life, instead of crying, killing, or doing something rash, they eat the alcohol–like drug. It is exactly like alcohol but has no side effects like hangoves. When everything is so different, they needed to remove “bad” things to keep society stable.

In Brave New World, love is abandoned for a would-be utopia. The world controllers introduce and hypnopaedically (through the use of sleep teaching) embed the idea that “everyone belongs to everyone” (40), which implies that it is preferred, if not mandatory, for the members of the Brave New World to refrain from monogamous relationships in favor of polygamy. The purpose of such a drastic measure for social stability is to minimize the pain felt whenever a loved one dies or leaves. Take the main character John for example. When he saw his mother Linda die, he became very emotional, causing him to undermine the death conditioning of children undergoing training at the hospital and instigating a rebellion among the Deltas by threatening to eliminate their soma, an alcohol like drug with no side effects. John’s love for his mother was not the only instance when love threatened the stability of the world state. Because of Lenina’s unfulfilled love for John, she could not concentrate while performing her job in the factory. “[Lenina] sighed profoundly as she refilled her syringe. ‘John,’ she murmured to herself…‘My Ford,’ she wondered, ‘have I given this one its sleeping sickness injection, or haven’t I?” (187) By forgetting the injection, Lenina is implicated in the death of a young promising Alpha twenty two years later. Such mistakes, if magnified, could lead to countless preventable deaths, which could overwhelm any neutralizing effects of death conditioning. On the other hand, taking away love is simply unjust. When John describes Lenina, he uses Shakespeare’s magnificent language to demonstrate the beauty of love. “Their eyes met for a moment. What treasures hers promised! A queen’s ransom of temperaments” (169).  John, the icon of love, speaks glowingly of Lenina using Shakespeare’s rapturous poetry to ground his soaring passion. Love inspires beautiful language and brings people together, but Brave New World takes it away for its flawed ideals of stability.

Besides love, science is another component of the world states removed for the sake of stability. Science, in this enclosed world, is like a cookbook: The world controller is the chef, the only one allowed to create recipes, and Betas are the cooks who only know what to do and not why. “It was the same with everything else he asked about. Linda never seemed to know.” (130) Using hypnopaedia, the world controller instills the message that science is everything, but that is only the controlled science. If anyone in the world state even investigates science, they will be deported, never to return. True science hurts society by giving people more knowledge so they can think for themselves and create their own ideas. Brave New World takes this away by taking away free time to think. That way, no one could ever come to reject society, if they don’t know any better. Some people might say that hypnopaedia is bad, but since the people don’t know, they can’t change it. But the thing is, thinking is what makes us human. Learning and adapting is just how we are.  

Controlling art is yet another key factor to maintaining the stability and fruition within the world state. Between soma holidays and obstacle golf, there is no more time to draw or create art. All art made in the past is banned and anyone could be sent to an island and be isolated possessing or conspiring to create art. “You can’t make tragedies without social instability.” (quote 220)  John hated Pope but it was Shakespeare’s writings that made him want to stab and hurt Pope. The tenants of brave new world will follow the sadness and ruin the society. Another case could be that someone like Helmholtz couldn’t write anything, due to the limitations for art, and writes something that will destabilize the  On the other hand, taking away art is unjustified. Art shows emotion and let us express all our bad feelings or happy feelings. People in Brave New World don’t feel the sensation when you win the lottery or when your cat dies. Ultimately,“happiness is never grand” (221).

Of all of these causes of social instability, religion might be the most important. God is viewed as a source of instability, because relations with god lead to strong emotions. “Groaning: My sin, my terrible God; screaming with pain, muttering with fever, bemoaning old age and poverty– how can they tend the wheels” (42)? Without stable individuals to work the factory machines, soma tablet production may be jeopardized, obstacle golf equipment may no longer be available, and people may frequently die without their proper vaccinations. The results of these preventable mistakes, triggered by people’s constant struggles to reconcile their religious faith, will ultimately destabilize a society. A Delta without his/her soma is an unhappy Delta; a Gamma without his/her obstacle golf is an unhappy Gamma; an Alpha without proper vaccination is an unhappy Alpha. All the measures taken to keep the society happy and stable will be wiped out with the blink of a god. When John feels that he has betrayed his god, he feels compelled to atone for his sins. The only acceptable religion of the World States is observed through solidarity services, which is just a make–out party for adults using soma. The world controllers replaced god with Ford, lessening the holy contacts and spirituality. Different people also have different religions so it is incredibly hard to control but the world controllers succeed. They don’t allow any solitude to think about god. All of the people in the World States believe in polygamy so they can’t be alone. That is why when John, the protagonist, “discovers time, death, and god” (136), he discovers his own religion. Thatreligion includes atoning for his sins, like whipping and suicide. That produces an extremely unstable person and may produce unfavorable results. On the other hand, religion is another part of a human being. Religion is how a person looks at life. It is their personal meaning of life and should not be taken away. Even the first amendment in the United States Constitution includes freedom of religion. Brave New World takes away religion to stabilize society, but religion is simply too important for that to be allowed

The pursuit of happiness is hard and serving that same happiness is harder. Through the sacrifices of Art, Religion, Science, and, most importantly, Love, the world controllers can serve happiness forever. Yet, as explained before, time and time again, these sacrifices are unjust and cannot be allowed. If it is a must, the individual should decide for himself whether to disregard the sacrifices or not (mostly not).

It was not so in  Machiavelli’s era. A Florentine Barack Obama would have had Sarah Palin, Senator Ron Paul and other critics bumped off by now. One – worlder David Cameron would have seen to it his biggest critic on foreign policy Daniel Hannan went for a pleasant swim in the River Thames while wearing concrete boots. If they had not been prepared to do such things, our leaders themselves would be, in the words of Tony Soprano, sleeping with the fishes.

Democracy in the medieval era meant one man one vote. And if the man with the vote had a decent sized army and a few competent assassins at his disposal, which ever way he cast his vote was law.

In his famous political manual The Prince, Machiavelli  relates with relish  how Cesare Borgia, brother and alleged lover of Lucretia, “sacked” a minister, Remirro de Orco, whom he had appointed to clean up the large region of central and eastern Italy that had fallen under the control of the Borgia clan. Machiavelli tells us Remirro was a “cruel and effective man”, who imposed order and sorted out the brigands, but he also made himself – and therefore his boss, Cesare – hated. Where the Borgia’s predecessor as ruler of , the Roman Emperor Caligulamight have grabbed the opportunity to say his catchphrase, “Oderint dum metuant,” (Let them hate me so long as they fear me) Cesare was the people of his new dominion onside. Once satisfied satisfied that the Romagna was under control and dissenters had been eliminated, he took measures to rid himself of his redundant strong arm man.

Remirro was discovered early one morning on the piazza in the town of Cesena, he had been cut in two pieces which lay next to a block of wood and a bloody knife”, Machiavelli reports. “The ferocity of this spectacle ensured the people were simultaneously satisfied at the fate of their oppressor and stupefied by the brutality of his killers” Withone stroke – not counting the one it took to cut a human adult in half with a knife – Borgia enhanced his authority, and proved he was willing to listen to public opinion.

Machiavelli tells this story with approval. It typifies the case for ruthless leadership that has madehis masterpiece The Prince and in his other published work, the Discourses on Livy, both published in the early 1530s after their author’s death in 1527.

For nearly five centuries, Machiavelli’s name has been a synonym for deception, manipulation, double dealing and sheer political thuggery.

The way modern politicians never choose to do something straightforwardly and in the open if it can be done behind closed doors while presenting an attitude of smooth, elitist condescension in public makes them true disciples of Machiavel, to use the word coined by sixteenth century English playwright Christopher Marlowe, himself a spy, who has Machiavelli appear on stage to introduce The Jew of Malta and whose prologue contains the words quoted in my preamble;

And let them know that I am Machiavel,

Admired am I by those that hate me most …

I count religion but a childish toy,

and hold there is no sin but ignorance

English Translations of The Prince published in the 16th and 17thcenturies come with Christian health warnings not to be seduced by the “poison” and “atheisme” of Machiavelli.

He is still outrageous today and yet he describes better than any writer before or since how the ultimate blood sport of politics is played. How amazing is it, that anyone’s ideas should be so controversial and so relevant five centuries after the writer’s death. In common another great original thinker of the era, William Shakespeare, his work remains current because he offers us an insight into human nature that no philosopher or psychologist ever has. The writers do this by understanding the aspects of us buried so deep in the abyssal depth of the human psyche, philosophers who deal in conscious thought or exponents of the pseudo science of psychology could never reach them.

A few years ago there was a BBC nature documentary that ran for several series and followed the community life of a chimpanzee colony. It was both surprising and unsurprising to observe how the political machinations of the very hierarchic male chimps resembled the ways of doing business favoured by human politicians. The chimps could honestly be described as Machiavellian.

Machiavelli believed absolute power is a good thing, the only problem is how to get and keep it. He describes the necessary techniques so well that his work has never become outdated. Marx and Nietzsche both borrow heavily from his ideas, while the Bolshevik Lenin was truly Machiavellian when he said the question about power is “Who? Whom?”.

A popular view in modern anthropology has it that social intelligence – the ability to achieve goals through the manipulation and deception of one’speers – was the earliest kind of intelligence to evolve. That was certainly born out by the BBC documentary that followed the chimps. The Cambridge University anthropologists who came up with this idea based it on research showing that chimpanzees trick and basically screw one another over in the competition for food and sex. Inevitably, they call their theory “Machiavellian intelligence“. The cover of their book has a Ralph Steadmancartoon of a chimp dressed in Renaissance clothes, running away with a banana got through skulduggery.
 
The name Machiavelli’s carries with it a menace that resonates down the centuries, thus he lives on like few others from the past. Most villains of history survive on their reputation for nastiness alone but Machiavelli’s influence is such that he is alive, present in the political machinations, the conspiracies and of  stich ups, the deals and backstabbings that go on in back rooms behind the marble walled corridors of power are pure Machiavelli in spirit if less competently and audaciously executed. His manual quite clearly describes the rituals of deceit or spin as we might euphemistically call it now. Backbiting and mutual aggression drive political relationships, often there is more hostility between allies than opponents.Machiavelli would not only have recognised but also approved of the behind-the-scenes bastardry, seeing the hatred masked beneath a patina of mutual respect and weasel worded affirmations of support. In his view they are  entirely natural, human, and – crucially – an excellent way of getting things done. 

MORE posts on Machiavelli will follow.

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The longest in the history of the will was written by the U.S. president Thomas Jefferson. In addition to detailed property orders, he wrote many pages devoted to reflections on the fate and America’s history. Interesting that all the heirs of Jefferson, received their share of the inheritance only if they set free all their slaves. The most detailed will left English playwrighter William Shakespeare. He managed to describe and bequeath all his property even small things, such as old shoes and used clothing. By the way, this will is the only indisputable document which proves that Shakespeare actually existed! The shortest will in the world wrote a banker from London. It contained just three words: “I am completely devastated.” And a shoemaker from Marseilles wrote a most indecent will in the history. Of the 123 words written in the document, 94 belong to the non-lexic words.

The most offensive will left a medieval farmer. He left 100 livres to his wife, but if it comes out that she again marries, her husband will get another 100 livres. The farmer noticed in his will that he wanted to brighten the life of her future husband, poor guy, because as soon as he marries, his life turns into hell.

                                                       Millions of Nobel

The most inexplicable will was drawn up by a laboratory workerof the famous physicist Niels Bohr. There were so many technical terms and complex phraseological units that to decrypt it was necessary to call expert linguists, who for weeks tried to figure out what all it means.

The largest cash sum ever bequeathed was $ 500 million. It was left by Henry Ford. However, he ordered to distribute it between 4157 educational and charitable institutions.

The most famous in the world will left Alfred Nobel, he bequeathed 30 million kroons for the establishment of the famous Nobel Prize. This will was contested by relatives, but they have not achieved success. And the Nobel money ordered according to his testament, which says: “I, the undersigned, Alfred Bernhard Nobel, after mature reflection hereby declare that all of my assets should be invested by my executor to secure papers and make fund from which procents will be distributed annually in premiums for those who in the past year has brought the greatest benefit to mankind. Money will be divided into five parts, which are distributed as follows: one part to the person who makes the most important discovery or invention in the field of physics, one – the one who makes the most important discovery or improvement in the field of chemistry, one – the one who will make an important discovery in physiology or medicine; one – the one who creates in the field of literature the most outstanding work of idealistic tendencies, and one – the one who will make the greatest contribution to the cause, contributing to the removal or reduction of existing armies, support of peace congresses. “

In addition to these, the most humane and best wishes, document contained another scary point – Nobel was terribly afraid that he will be buried alive, and demanded before burrying to cut the veins on his hands …

                                                                                 Wife of the dog

The most secretive will left billionaire Michael Rothschild. It says: “Absolutely and unequivocally forbid any inventory of my estate, any judicial intervention and disclosure of my condition.” So still people do not know what was the real state of the richest man and how he ordered it …

Very often, the millionaires leave all to their favorite dog or cat. The biggest “dog” status was left to millionaire film producer Roger Dorcas. His dog Maximilian inherited $ 65 million. Wife of a millionaire, has inherited a penny, has filed in court, but it recognized the will of the legitimate, as Dorcas made in advance of Maximilian “human” documents. The wife Dorcas was not desperate and confused. Once a dog has a status of a person, can inherit and then it can get married! Dorcas widow immediately performed marriage. When the dog died, she quietly entered the law of inheritance, as Maximilian did not leave will…

The most deceptive will left the great illusionist Harry Houdini. In it he stated that all the secrets of his own tricks recorded and put in the safe, which he allows to open only on the day of his centenary. When the appointed day safe was opened, it was empty. Magician has once again deceived the public!

                                                                  Death by sex

The original will left the comedian Charlie Chaplin. He bequeathed a million dollars to anyone who will manage the release from the mouth five cigarette rings and inside of them to make another one sixth. So far nobody has been able to do so, and a million dollars still waiting for his owner …

At the beginning of the XX century German engineer and professor from the city of Darmstadt Volfskel Paul (1856-1906) left an unusual testament to Gottingen Academy of Sciences. It states that those who first present a complete proof of Fermat’s famous theorem, the Academy is obliged to hand over 50 000 gold marks, sent to the Academy by Volfskel. The testament was written exactly for a hundred years – from September 13, 1907 to September 13, 2007. Many famous mathematicians and ordinary people tried to find a solution to the Great theorem and get a bonus of Volfskel. But during that time no one could solve this problem, and the gold of Volfskel became the property of Gottingen Academy of Sciences.

The most piquant will left a 72-year-old German, Rolf Eden; in his native Berlin, he is a womanizer and doesn’t have good reputation. And thus the local women are not willing to be with him. And then Eden made unexpected will, after which he was not willing to release from the women wanted to spend night with him. The elderly man bequeathed his fortune valued at 300 thousand dollars to a woman in which arms he dies: “I want to die in the most beautiful moment of my life. First, good fun with a beautiful woman, then it’ll get rough sex, then come and orgasm followed by a heart attack from which I died. Look at my age, and the latter can become even tomorrow night. “

But in fact, Eden is not going to die, and happily enjoy the moments of wisdom drawn up by a will, giving him so many beautiful moments …

Rebekah Brooks has resigned from Rupert Murdock’s News Corporation

The first thing Murdock said after he jetted across the Atlantic and landed in London was “I am here to support Rebekah Brooks.”

Yet usually Murdock is the most ruthless of all employers. The second any employee is no longer any use to him or worse still – a danger – he or she is fired.

Murdock runs his empire like some mad dictator from the middle ages. Everybody has to bow to his wishes, jump to his commands – or else. As for messing up like Rebekah Brooks – the firing would be express service and the ex-employee hounded across the globe.

Not Rebekah! Instead of firing her – he shut down the paper. 

His top selling tabloid was closed down and hundreds of innocent workers with no connection to the scandals are out on the streets. She was in charge when the biggest disaster of Murdock’s life destroyed his UK empire and is now spreading at speed to the US.

The Murdock empire is rattling, shaking and sinking. But Rebekah was safe. The Prime Minister and every MP in the UK Parliament called for her sacking. Lawyers, accountants and his closest advisers whispered to Murdock, “Just get rid of her, not tomorrow – yesterday!” Don’t you think that is what his wife was saying too? 

Now – to make life a bit easier for Rupert – Rebakah’s resigned !

Why now? It’s probably because she is due to face a UK Parliamentary Committee that will give her a hard time anyway. If she is no longer working for Murdock she can be a bit more relaxed about the questioning.

Rebekah Brooks won’t disappear from Murdock’s inner circle. He still needs her – and her silence.

But is there more to it than that? Is is possible that the 80 year old Murdock, who is sprightly enough to have fathered a couple of children with his latest wife, has the hots for flame haired Rebekah Brooks?

A newspaper report described how recently they had a quiet lunch together, just the two of them. At one point Rebekah gently picked some fluff from Murdock’s jacket. She has the talent of a born social communicator.

Brooks is a net worker beyond compare.

She worked her way into Tony Blair and Gordon Brown’s circle, she goes horse riding with Prime Minister David Cameron. Her husband, a hunting and shooting man, has introduced her to the aristocratic country house set. She knows the top names in showbiz and sport.

Sharon Stone style

So, she has charm to spare. Certainly enough to stroke the ego of an 80 year old man, several times married and feeling he still has something to prove.

Does the expression, No fool like an old fool, ring any bells? Shakespeare wrote that. Blind Love was another of his and poor old Rupert does seem to have mislaid his glasses. Perhaps Rebekah had taken to attending meetings and forgetting her underwear, Sharon Stone style.

Who knows? Journalists on one of Murdock’s rival tabloids may be writing the love story right now. After all, they will have read the Murdock instruction manual on how to get exclusives.

One of the most beautiful lines by Shakespeare, which most of you might have come across! Life is full of ups and downs and some impasse situations which are often difficult to comprehend. Perhaps we are left with the final option of “To be or not to be”. Some of us are strong enough to move on and search for great horizons and struggle to pave a way for ourselves. However, some of us are the unlucky few who vacillate between the choice of life and death. While some succeed in embracing life, the way it comes but there is still a fraction of people who choose death over life.

Let me quote an incident from my life. After I suffered a setback in my relationship and my academics, I decided to end it up for better. I felt it was easier to face death rather than move on in life. I was too blind to look at the brighter aspect of life and the support of some of the most precious people who were ready to help me sail through all of my troubles. With time thankfully, I realized that I hadn’t actually lost anything, I was actually going to lose had I taken the tough and cowardly decision of ending up my life and rather would have landed up everyone in a macabre situation.

We simply remember the odds and forget the good old moments of life. We feel death is sweeter and easier but who has seen the ‘undiscovered country’, a place from which you can never return. We forget those who love us and that our simple smile may brighten someone’s day. We forget that we might not get to live life ever after. We forget that that we may not get the same relations.

Life is no doubt sometimes tough but death might be worse. So live life the way it comes. Live every moment and remember that difficult situations are simply to let you learn and make you a better human! Take it positively. Wear a smile, no matter what!

So struggle, smile and stay and enjoy the beautiful gift called “Life”!

 please do leave your comments :) 

Dear Diary,

     Today is the ides of March. There is a meeting at the capitol today and all the senators are going to be there. Caesar is supposed to be attending, but his nagging wife may yet keep him home. I wish the best for those two, but Julius needs an heir and …. May not be able to give him that. I am afraid of what will happen today because a lot of peculiar things have happened recently. I was making my way home from a night on the town and I saw a group of people garbed in black walking the street. I don’t know what they were doing but I can’t imagine it was any good. I’m not sure I saw them though. I did have a little too much wine. That same night when I was getting dinner, I overheard two men talking about a dream that Casca had. Apparently Casca had a dream with a bunch of bad omens that convinced him to not go through with the “plan”, whatever this plan is, I do not know. Then just now, as I ride to the capitol, I saw Antimedorus. He had a letter in has hand and a determined look in his eye. I wonder what he’s up to. I also don’t know what Brutus has been doing. Lately he seemed torn between something, maybe a decision of some sorts. I do not know. I shall ask him about it today. I may be able to help him with whatever he needs to decide. It may be about his relationship with Portia. There marriage has seemed a little bit strained recently. I only hope that this meeting goes well and that my suspicions about Cassius remain untrue, otherwise there may be trouble yet.

Dear Diary,

     A great tragedy has befallen Rome. Caesar was killed by a group of conspirators. I knew I should not have dismissed my suspicions so quickly. Maybe if I had been less quick to judge I may have prevented this unfortunate event. He was stabbed so many times that I lost count. I was horrified. I have seen battle but never have I seen a man killed with such hatred and ferociousness. I almost don’t believe it has happened because even Brutus, who I thought the most loyal of us all to Caesar, stabbed him with as much ferocity as any of the conspirators. Alas, I can do nothing now and I have tried to make the best of the situation. First I had to win over Brutus and the conspirators.  Next, after I was allowed to speak at Caesars funeral by Brutus, I riled up the crowd into frenzy. They were terrifying. I thought they were going to kill me! I won them over by saying how much Caesar loved them and how he left them his land in his will. This was a fake will of course, but the people will demand land because they know no better. This all was after Brutus’s speech, which won over the crowd, but I won them back. The enraged crowd chased the conspirators out of the city. On the way they killed a man named Cinna, even though he was not Cinna the conspirator, because they were so riled up. All these events fell into place and now that Octavius, Caesars grand nephew, is coming to Rome, we can further discuss our plans for Rome. Without a ruler or rulers Rome will fall into anarchy. I intend to rule Rome with Octavius and maybe another loyal Roman, since there are almost no senators left in Rome. They all fled because of their part in the conspiracy. I guess we shall see what tomorrow brings.

                                                                                                            Sincerely,

                                                                                                            Mark Antony

Dear Diary,

            Rome has fallen back into order. Octavius, Lepidus and I have formed a triumvirate that we are using to rule Rome. Our first order of business has been to root out the rest of the conspirators and all that may oppose us. I don’t think Lepidus has leadership qualities and is not fit to rule. I may have to find a way to get rid of him in the near future.  Maybe he will die in this battle between Rome and the conspirator armies of Brutus and Cassius. At the moment my army beating Cassius’s army and Octavius is losing to Brutus. Speaking of Octavius he seems to want to be called by his surname, Caesar, instead of his forename, Octavius.  According to my spies there has been some trouble in the enemy camp. Cassius and Brutus were seen arguing and, according to the spy, it got pretty heated. I hope this will help us win. If there is conflict within there camp this campaign may be easier than I thought, but only time will tell. One other thing that may help us win is the death of Portia, Brutus’s wife. If Brutus is in mourning, than his troops morale may break more easily. A disheartened leader is never a good one.                                                                                          Sincerely,

                                                                                                            Mark Antony

As time went on, the theatre became to be something that was known as being more for the upper classes, with any noise during the performance being strictly frowned upon, as it should not happen. There was no audience participation and this was the way that they liked it. They used stage lights as a way of separating the audience from the performers, and this meant that they were much less likely to talk.

Today, however, things seem to have come full circle. If you go to see a comedian on stage, there will more than likely to include the audience in their performance. If somebodies mobile phone rings during the performance, instead of being ignore or simply frowned up, the performers will ad lib to build it into their performance meaning that a lot of attention is drawn towards it.

So, what is the future for theatre? Only time will tell, and it will certainly be interesting to see this as I wonder whether it will come full circle once again.

Click the video and hear the Lady Gaga Lyric Poker Face like you’ve never heard it before. Jude Law makes it sound more Shakespeare than Gaga! But that’s just the way he is, some admirers say he could read a phone directory and make it sound sexy.

It’s his activities in a legal case that are causing ripples for Rupert Murdock, boss of Fox News and News International. In the UK the Murdock organisation has been forced to admit the illegal phone tapping of top politicians, sports star and celebrities. One of those phones belonged to Jude Law and he’s determined to make Murdock pay for the attacks on his privacy that led to a series of kiss and tell articles about him.

The actor’s former fiancee Sienna Miller has already won a $130,000 settlement from Murdock.

Law is upping the stakes by claiming he has proof that a very senior executive in Murdock’s organisation knew all about the phone hacking. This has serious implications because all along the Murdock team has insisted the illegal activities were down to a small group of journalists. They say the newspaper’s editor – and Murdock’s son who was Chief Executive of the group – knew nothing about it. 

This defence is looking increasingly shaky. News International was paying a detective to hack into the phones and break story after story. They are in effect claiming that one of their top editors didn’t know what was going on at his paper – and the Chief Executive didn’t know either. Even though the Murdock family have a reputation for being hands on operators. Rupert Murdock is known to love gossip about celebrities. Did his staff deliberately keep him out of the loop?  

Hollywood actor Hugh Grant also claims to have recorded a former top Murdock journalist saying that of course his editor knew what was going on.

Murdock has set aside a budget of millions of dollar to pay damages. He has already paid out thousands to buy the silence of victims of the phone tapping.

Now with this Jude Law revelation the accusations are moving ever closer to the top of the Murdock organisation. Details are emerging of cosy lunches between senior Murdock executives and London’s Metropolitan Police. Meetings that a senior detective later claimed he “couldn’t remember.” 

It all sounds very familiar. The constant denial, then the slow, slow retreat as evidence is forced out. The stakes are high, top UK politicians and staff of Britain’s Royal Family claim to be Murdock victims. Was his paper looking for steamy stories about Prince William and his bride to be Kate Middleton?   

If this is how the Murdock organisation operates in the UK – what do they get up to in the US?