Ides Of March

How To Brave The Ides Of March

... log-jam of large assignments and late midterm exams. I was lucky enough not to be saddled with the latter. Of course, I didn’t want to work on that project assigned two weeks ago, but lo and behold, I have arrived at the panic zone of three days before the due date without having done any of the work. I, of course, rushed to finish the project that I was certain I would do well on, only to receive a grade reflective of my effort. This is a common procrastinator’s problem, brought on by the end-of-the-year fatigue and an overwhelming desire to fast-forward to summer, when some of us will pursue professional development, employment and educational opportunities, and not focus on schoolwork as much. While March may be a difficult time to find motivation to put one’s best effort into academic work, hopefully this column can help my fellow procrastinators find value in starting projects and exam preparations early. No matter what your class standing is, using this time as an opportunity to either create momentum for next year or cap off a good academic record upon graduation will yield tremendous ...

Celebrating Saint Patrick's Day

... through the month. It became the date to symbolize the end of the Roman Republic and the beginning of the Roman Empire. Why? On the Ides of March, 44 B. C. Roman Emperor Julius Caesar was stabbed and killed during a senate gathering. Over 60 conspirators led by Brutus were responsible. The term sticks to this day with many of us having a connotation of doom. In the matter of shamrocks, Saint Patrick actually used the plant’s form to impart the Christian understanding of God as three in one — the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Patrick was the first soul upon Ireland’s isle to share Christianity, which he did for 30 years. In Shamrock, Texas, in March a beard-growing contest is required of every man. You would need a permit to opt out of this duty to community. As for leprechauns, they are not the only characters in Irish folklore. My mother used to implore her four loud daughters to cease being banshees; so I always related this to loud screaming. Come to find out Mom may have known what she was talking about. Banshees, are fairy women with silver hair and white skin who go about ...

Should Pm Trigger Or Beware The Ides Of March

... at the very least finding an elegant method to delay it. Beware the Ides of March. But, there are consequences if Article 50 is not triggered until the last week of March. The European Union is now highly unlikely to be able to hold its EU 27 response summit sketching out the negotiating mandate for the European Commission's Michel Barnier until late April or even early May. Video: MPs reject amendments passed by Lords. This is right in the middle of the French Presidential elections, which could in fact push the summit back to mid May. Indeed, what is the point of having President Hollande decide the French position among the EU 27. : Brexit terms explained: What you need to know. And though the moment of history is undoubted, it is also a moment of lucidity too. Mrs May will seek a quick deal on reciprocal rights for EU citizens, but the carve up of assets and the bill for ...

From Trump's Critics, A Blizzard Of Old-fashioned Postcards

... meanwhile, provides cheap therapy. Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff. Postcards addressed to President Trump were sorted at First Parish Watertown. The cards will be mailed en masse Wednesday. Regan Hall, a Greenfield mother and artist, described herself as “despondent, not sleeping, really angry” after the November election, and her calls to the White House comment line weren’t going through. After Didier introduced her to the “Letters to Donald” Facebook page, Hall began to channel that energy into art. Her series of presidential postcards, meticulous sketches of former presidents, includes messages she’d like each of them to convey to the current president. On any given day, “they could give him little tips or pointers or berate him for killing the EPA,” she said. “I started with Richard Nixon and had this epiphany like I could do all of these guys and it would focus me,’ Hall said. “It’s meditative.”. When she ran out of presidents, she rolled into a series of notable women in history, from environmentalist Rachel Carson to Frances Perkins, the first woman to serve as ...

Befriend The Ides Of March

... - February's retail sales and CPI inflation. Some say investors should sell into uncertainly like this. But recent history contradicts that assumption. In the last year, assumptions were rampant that a "Brexit" vote would fuel a global stock market panic and perhaps a recession in Europe. Neither happened. In fact, stocks rallied and the European economy started to recover. Within two weeks of the Brexit vote, the S&P 500 hit its first new all-time high in over a year. Then, in the fall, predictions of a Trump victory warned of the same dangers - fears over an untested neophyte taking control of the richest nation in the world. But the stock market and the major sentiment indicators have gone the other way - north - since the surprise Trump victory last November. The same is true of the Fed's decision. The last time the Fed went into a rate-rising cycle - 17 straight quarter-point rate hikes from mid-2004 to mid-2006 - both the stock market and gold rose strongly, despite concerns at the time that rising rates ...

An Irishman’s Diary About The Ides Of March

... the UK amending its schedule for triggering article 50, which was originally planned for today’. about 5 hours ago. ‘This has earned him the gratitude of political headline writers, renewed each time a two-faced politician with a B-name – this time last year it was “Et tu, Boris?” – makes the news.’ Photograph: Will Oliver/EPA. I read in another newspaper a while ago that a comment by Boris Johnson did not “auger” well for negotiations on Brexit. Of course what the writer meant there was “augur”, auger-with-an-e being a carpenter’s tool, for making holes in wood, rather than a verb meaning to forebode. It’s a common mistake, even though – despite appearances – the words are unrelated. I suppose, in certain circumstances, careless use of an auger might also augur badly for something: the buoyancy of a small boat, say. ...

Beware The Ides Of March. But Why

... did in the play) but, like Caesar, he soon experiences a swift undoing. Reverse side of a coin issued by Caesar’s assassin Brutus in the autumn of 42 B. C., with the abbreviation EID MAR (Eidibus Martiis – on the Ides of March). (Credit: Public Domain). In 2011, Columbia Pictures released a movie with the title about an idealistic campaign staffer (Ryan Gosling) who gets a harsh lesson in dirty politics while working for an up-and-coming presidential candidate (George Clooney). The movie involves quite a bit of figurative backstabbing, but it’s a pretty clear allegory for the death of Caesar. Again, death and destruction loom. Did the death of Caesar curse the day, or was it just Shakespeare’s mastery of language that forever darkened an otherwise normal box on the calendar? If you look through history, you can certainly find enough horrible things that happened on March 15, but is it a case of life imitating art? Or art imitating life. Perhaps it was Julius Caesar himself (and not the famous dramatist) who ...

The Ides Of March And The Left’s Figurative Assassination Of The President

... page calling on Trump resistors to send postcards to the White House on March 15 th. March 15 th is more commonly known as the date that Julius Caesar uttered his last words, “Et tu Brute?” as his dearest friend drove a dagger into his back. When referring to Caesar’s assassination, the day is called The Ides of March. The new reference, The Ides of Trump, clearly is intended to be associated with the assassination of the Roman emperor. The group’s web site states rather clearly that it is intended to be non-violent, but seeing the message juxtaposed with images of the daggered Roman coin issued by Caesar’s assassin, Brutus, in 42 BC, it’s a mixed message. So while the group is not actively calling for violence—at least not real violence, it is calling on resistors all over the world to make their displeasure with the president known. The goal of the plan is to flood the White House with negativity to annoy President Trump. So sharpen your wit, ...