Pics

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Emerson

“I am born a poet. That is my nature & vocation. My singing, be sure, is very ‘husky,’ & is for the most part in prose. Still am I a poet in the sense of a perceiver & dear lover of the harmonies that are in the soul & in matter, & specially in the correspondence between these & those. A sunset, a forest, a snow storm, a certain river-view, are more to me than many friends & do ordinarily divide my day with my books.”

-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

As I recall, he was writing to a lady that he was courting. So, he may have been a bit, umm, enthusiastic.

Marco Rubio and the New Republicans?

David Brooks highlights the optimistic idea that Republicans are reforming, becoming less plutocratic and more... what? Shall I say it? More democratic, even more Democratic. He also shows us why some Republicans are looking to Senator Marco Rubio, writing of a speech that Rubio gave this week in accepting the Jack Kemp's Foundation Leadership Award.

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Suicide and Sex

I thought it deserves its own post.

"The Best Place to be Born"

After crunching its numbers, the [Economist Intelligence Unit] has Switzerland comfortably in the top spot, with Australia second. Small economies dominate the top ten. Half of these are European, but only one, the Netherlands, is from the euro zone. The Nordic countries shine, whereas the crisis-ridden south of Europe (Greece, Portugal and Spain) lags behind despite the advantage of a favourable climate. The largest European economies (Germany, France and Britain) do not do particularly well. America, where babies will inherit the large debts of the boomer generation, languishes back in 16th place.

-- Sully's Dish

Supreme Court to Decide on Gay Marriage

The court's decision to hear challenges to both California's Proposition 8 and the federal Defense of Marriage Act could lead to a series of historic rulings.

The Supreme Court agreed Friday to take up the explosive issue of same-sex marriage, thrusting itself into a policy debate that has divided federal and state governments and courts, as well as voters in nearly 40 states.

The high court's long-awaited decisions to hear challenges to the federal Defense of Marriage Act and California's Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage move the issue to the top of the national agenda following a year in which advocates scored major legal and political victories.

The court likely will hear the cases in March and rule by late June on a series of questions, potentially including one of the most basic: Can states ban gay marriage?

-- News-LJ

This ought to be good for some fireworks.

Hamlet (3,3) Try What Repentance Can

Claudius is finally alone. As Shakespeare’s tapestry unrolls, once more only one figure holds the audience’s eye and ear. Claudius had one instant of bitterly remorseful aloneness while Polonius and Ophelia were busy elsewhere on the stage [setting her up as bait for Hamlet in the ‘get thee to a nunnery’ scene]; now our whole attention focuses on him, an image of asymmetry - the murderer at prayer. Now he is most like Hamlet; his thoughts and feelings range from the heavens to the gross earth; from cosmic justice to worldly corruption.

-- Marvin Rosenberg, “The Masks of Hamlet”

Shaken after Hamlet’s “Mousetrap”, having seen his dark and evil image in the mirror that Hamlet held up to him in front of the whole court, and now alone and stripped, Claudius bares his soul in agony, struggling to pray and be connected to God, wrestling against his corrupted faith. Like Macbeth’s wife, Claudius finds that the stains will not go away.

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The Savannah: A Domestic Hybrid Cat

The Savannah is a domestic hybrid cat breed. It is a cross between a Serval and a domestic cat. (The first was bred with a Siamese.)

Savannah cat is the name given to the offspring of a domestic cat and a Serval—a medium-sized, large-eared wild African cat.

The unusual cross became popular among breeders at the end of the 20th century, and in 2001 the International Cat Association accepted it as a new registered breed.

Savannahs are much more social than typical domestic cats, and they are often compared to dogs in their loyalty. They can be trained to walk on a leash and even taught to play fetch.

-- Funny Wildlife