Posted by Tara Koellhoffer
Today, China executed Zheng Xiaoyu, the former director of the nation’s food and drug administration. He had been convicted of receiving cash bribes for approving fake medications. The death sentence, which seems quite severe to most of us in the West, is actually rather extreme even for China. The decision to use the death penalty in this case was likely the result of several recent and well-publicized food scares, including the massive pet food recall that took place over the past few months.
When viewed in light of some of the official punishments carried out in England under the reign of Elizabeth I, China’s execution of the corrupt food and drug official may not seem so horrible after all. While pointing to more than 300 human heads that were stuck on pikes on London Bridge, Elizabeth once told a French official:
“It is thus we punish traitors in England.”
Posted by Tara Koellhoffer
“If, indeed, I have always taken care for your bodies, shall I abandon the care of your souls?”
Posted by Tara Koellhoffer
Today, Americans celebrate the Fourth of July, the birthday of our nation and the day on which our Founding Fathers adopted the document that declared our independence from England. Although the England of Elizabeth I’s day was an absolute monarchy, as queen, she recognized the importance of liberty, just as we Americans do today. She said:
“God forbid that your liberty should make my bondage or that your lawful liberties should any ways have been infringed.”
All our best wishes for a happy and healthy Fourth of July!
Posted by Tara Koellhoffer
On Thursday, June 28, 2007, a large bomb followed by a barrage of gunfire and grenades killed five U.S. soldiers in the Rasheed district of Baghdad. Believed to be an attack by Sunni insurgents, the bombing brought the death toll for June up to 99, according to the Associated Press, making the past three months the deadliest since the beginning of the Iraq War in March 2003.
Despite the fact that U.S. forces are, at least in theory, in Iraq in order to promote peace, many critics of the war believe that the U.S. presence is actually causing problems to escalate in the already fractured Iraqi nation.
Elizabeth I witnessed her fair share of war during her reign, and she recognized that, in many cases, using war to try to promote peace can cause more problems than it solves. She said:
“I fear that in these lamentable inward wars more earnestness is bestowed to nourish civil hatred than in pacification of troubles.”
Posted by Tara Koellhoffer
“[W]hether we make peace or war, the good of our people shall be evermore preferred therein.”
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Posted by Tara Koellhoffer
President Bush has promised to balance the national budget by 2012, but many government officials—particularly congressional Democrats—disagree about how best to achieve a balanced budget. This year’s deficit is estimated to reach about $200 billion, an improvement over last year’s $248 billion deficit, and the Congressional Budget Office has said that the budget could actually show a surplus by the 2012 fiscal year. Still, the U.S. government is notorious for failing to balance the budget.
Queen Elizabeth offered some advice on how to avoid budget problems when financing government programs. She said:
“In this acknowledgment of new debts we may not forget our old debt. . . .”
Maybe if more modern politicians took her advice, we would be more likely to maintain a balanced budget.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Posted by Tara Koellhoffer
Ever since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, many Americans have worried that another attack may soon follow. For many people, concerns about potential terrorism have grown into outright phobias, and quite a few have required psychological help just to carry on their lives with some degree of normalcy. Elizabeth I was well aware of the overwhelming anxiety that could come from wondering when something bad might happen. She wrote:
“Our common adage which we have in England is a very good one: When one fears that an evil is coming, the sooner it arrives the better.”
Sometimes it seems as if Elizabeth was right. It often feels like it would be easier to handle an existing problem than to worry constantly about if and when a problem might occur.
Thursday, January 4, 2007
Posted by Tara Koellhoffer
On Thursday, January 4, 2007, Democrat Nancy Pelosi of California was elected the first female Speaker of the House of Representatives. Elizabeth I would probably be astounded that it has taken over two hundred years for Americans to raise a woman to the Speaker’s position. After all, as Elizabeth once joked:
“There is no marvel in a woman learning to speak, but there would be in teaching her to hold her tongue.”
Despite Elizabeth’s often self-deprecating sense of humor, she well understood just how powerful a woman politician could be. She said in 1588:
“I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king.”
Elizabeth would no doubt offer newly elected Speaker Pelosi hearty congratulations on this historic day, and encourage Pelosi to show that she, too, has the heart and stomach of a king as she gets down to work.
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Posted by Tara Koellhoffer
The New Year is fast approaching, and most of us will soon be making resolutions designed to improve our lives. The New Year gives us all a fresh start. We get a chance to put the past behind us and look forward to a better future. As Elizabeth said:
“The past cannot be cured.”
Now is the time to decide what we want to do next year, whether that may be starting a new weight-loss program, exercising more, or maybe overcoming a bad habit like smoking. Many people’s New Year’s resolutions are, indeed, focused on improving their health. Elizabeth offered some advice on how to live a healthy lifestyle. She said:
“Abstinence is the better part of physic.”
Whether we hope to abstain from liquor, tobacco, or too many sweets, may we all enjoy good health and great success during the coming year.
Posted by Tara Koellhoffer
Queen Elizabeth I lived in a world that was very different from the one in which we live today. She was an absolute monarch—a leader who inherited her position and did not need the approval of Parliament, her legislature, to carry out her will. At times, Parliament tried to pressure Elizabeth to take certain actions, but she always made sure that her decisions were ultimately made independently. In fact, she often criticized Parliament for attempting to overstep its rightful powers. She wrote to the members of the legislature in 1592:
“You are not called together to make new laws or lose good hours in idle speeches but to vote a supply to enable me to defend my realm. . . .”
Many modern-day Americans might argue that President George W. Bush feels the same way about Congress that Elizabeth felt about Parliament—preferring that the legislators focus their efforts on approving military expenditures rather than trying to influence policy.