Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

Shhh. You'll attract the Blankfist. >> ^DerHasisttot:

Some private firefighting company will quench the fire after the puppies sign the lease of the house over to the company.

Some private firefighting company will quench the fire after the puppies sign the lease of the house over to the company.

If only all Rome had one neck!

Okay, maybe I shouldn't have said Wrroonngg so quickly--but you presume that your readings about Rome are more extensive than mine.

Nero, Caligula and many later Emperors are examples of the human psyche let loose. Psychopaths with no restrictions on their behavior.

The Roman Republic lasted for almost 500 years--during which time--homosexuality was looked on as a vice and shameful behavior. Emperor Augustus imposed strict modesty and morality edicts--including homosexual activities--which didn't apply to him. So even in the later, Empire Era, Rome was hardly be considered, "one big, gay death machine."

"Marcus Aurelius was straight at least..." This one gave me a laugh.


The Love Letters of Emperor Marcus Aurelius and Marcus Cornelius Fronto
Excerpts from My Dear Boy: Gay Love Letters through the Centuries (1998), Edited by Rictor Norton

From Marcus Cornelliius Fronto to Marcus Aurelius

Your lover, too, as they say, composes some amatory writings about you in the hope of enticing you with this bait, if with no other, and attracting you to himself and catching you; but such things are a disgrace and an insult and a sort of licentious cry, the outcome of stinging lust, such as those of wild beasts and fed cattle, that from sexual desire bellow or neigh or low or howl. Like to these are the lyrics of lovers. If, therefore, you submit yourself to your lover to enjoy where and when he pleases, awaiting neither time that is fitting nor leisure nor privacy, then, like a beast in the frenzy of desire, will he make straight for you and be eager to go to it not the least ashamed. . . .

"But then they went through the phase where prostitutes could fuck any man they wanted, even while wed and in plain sight, and the Christian empress would have the man executed if he said something..."

The role of prostitution in other societies varies--ours is not the only moral way. And the actions of the Christian church are--during most of it's history--atrocious. I thought you were talking about early Rome with it's outright destruction and pillage.

"You get the point. Rome was confused but definitely bi with a leaning more towards homosexuality--despite their 'laws.'"

A whole country was BI? Wow--just wow.


>> ^Lawdeedaw:

@Boise_Lib
Now now, don't say I am wrong quiet yet. I just read up on Rome and have the advantage here (I read like fucking two days’ worth...)
Nero was more than gay (He married a man as his husband and a man as his wife...see slit in lieu of vagina,) and Caligula (Who was fucking a man while in the arena in front of everyone, then had that man beheaded during climax) was bi and Tiberius (Who was fucking Caligula after murdering his family) was bi and the typical soldier, and...wait, yeah, there were many more. Basically, 14 out of 15 were gay or gay-ish at least. By that I mean some were open, some closed. Commodus? Yeah, gay...
(Most were simply bi just to have a son btw. Otherwise it would have been just man on man.)
The whole conflict with homosexuality came in later--after the Roman Catholic Church gained power... Now, that's not saying it wasn't against the law in the early days--but that's the same as adultery, yet then orgies were common even though they were illegal... let's pretend the law doesn't matter here---because it didn't...
Marcus Aurelius was straight at least...
And yes, this was the early Rome, when it was brutal, but then that's what I was talking about when I said the world hated them. Later, yes, later they began to hate homosexual behavior. But then they went through the phase where prostitutes could fuck any man they wanted, even while wed and in plain sight, and the Christian empress would have the man executed if he said something...
You get the point. Rome was confused but definitely bi with a leaning more towards homosexuality--despite their "laws."
@shuac I meant the crimes of Rome itself, not homosexuals. It's kind of hard to forgive a nation that captured and enslaved your city and then raped your male children with abandon.
@hpqp
I don't think homosexuality is girly, but that's their reasoning... Sad, so sad because it is not true.

@Boise_Lib

Now now, don't say I am wrong quiet yet. I just read up on Rome and have the advantage here (I read like fucking two days’ worth...)

Nero was more than gay (He married a man as his husband and a man as his wife...see slit in lieu of vagina,) and Caligula (Who was fucking a man while in the arena in front of everyone, then had that man beheaded during climax) was bi and Tiberius (Who was fucking Caligula after murdering his family) was bi and the typical soldier, and...wait, yeah, there were many more. Basically, 14 out of 15 were gay or gay-ish at least. By that I mean some were open, some closed. Commodus? Yeah, gay...

(Most were simply bi just to have a son btw. Otherwise it would have been just man on man.)

The whole conflict with homosexuality came in later--after the Roman Catholic Church gained power... Now, that's not saying it wasn't against the law in the early days--but that's the same as adultery, yet then orgies were common even though they were illegal... let's pretend the law doesn't matter here---because it didn't...

Marcus Aurelius was straight at least...

And yes, this was the early Rome, when it was brutal, but then that's what I was talking about when I said the world hated them. Later, yes, later they began to hate homosexual behavior. But then they went through the phase where prostitutes could fuck any man they wanted, even while wed and in plain sight, and the Christian empress would have the man executed if he said something...

You get the point. Rome was confused but definitely bi with a leaning more towards homosexuality--despite their "laws."

@shuac I meant the crimes of Rome itself, not homosexuals. It's kind of hard to forgive a nation that captured and enslaved your city and then raped your male children with abandon.

@hpqp
I don't think homosexuality is girly, but that's their reasoning... Sad, so sad because it is not true.

Buttsex caused the fall of Rome.

>> ^Lawdeedaw:

>> ^A10anis:
Pastor says; "it's indoctrination, children are in their formative years, and you start introducing sexuality into their young impressionable minds, you start changing our culture." Oh, unlike the indoctrination of their young impressionable minds into dogmatic, medieval, religion which, if not stopped, will END our culture.

Funny that Christianity became popular in Rome when those crimes were happening...ironic or just cause-and-effect...


Law, what are the crimes you're referring to here? Homosexuality itself? Or the ostracism of homosexuals?

Just curious what your position is.

>> ^Lawdeedaw:

>> ^A10anis:
Pastor says; "it's indoctrination, children are in their formative years, and you start introducing sexuality into their young impressionable minds, you start changing our culture." Oh, unlike the indoctrination of their young impressionable minds into dogmatic, medieval, religion which, if not stopped, will END our culture.

Um, you do realize religion IS culture? It is a universal of all cultures--just like money and government and mental illness (1/4 of everyone...) You could say it is in our genes and we must unlearn it... Now, the different types of religions is something to debate...
But let's talk about why homosexuality has a bad rap... Homosexuality itself got a very bad rap because of one little nation that practiced it religiously... Rome... Rome was one big, gay death machine that the world hated so much that it now shuns even the good practices of the Empire. Think of the Middle East, nations that particularly had problems with Rome...yup, they really hate gay and lesbians...
Funny that Christianity became popular in Rome when those crimes were happening...ironic or just cause-and-effect...


Wrroonngg!

Roman society looked down on homosexuals.

They were seen as shameful and mostly had to hide themselves. The dictator Sula was most likely homosexual. Even though he had complete power over the Roman state he hid his sexuality until after he stepped down from power.

Ancient Greece on the other hand...

>> ^A10anis:
Pastor says; "it's indoctrination, children are in their formative years, and you start introducing sexuality into their young impressionable minds, you start changing our culture." Oh, unlike the indoctrination of their young impressionable minds into dogmatic, medieval, religion which, if not stopped, will END our culture.


Um, you do realize religion IS culture? It is a universal of all cultures--just like money and government and mental illness (1/4 of everyone...) You could say it is in our genes and we must unlearn it... Now, the different types of religions is something to debate...

But let's talk about why homosexuality has a bad rap... Homosexuality itself got a very bad rap because of one little nation that practiced it religiously... Rome... Rome was one big, gay death machine that the world hated so much that it now shuns even the good practices of the Empire. Think of the Middle East, nations that particularly had problems with Rome...yup, they really hate gay and lesbians...

Funny that Christianity became popular in Rome when those crimes were happening...ironic or just cause-and-effect...

Oh yeah, America is so like Rome... Fucking douches.

I wish. We have 'em here in Ireland too. They don't hold any sway in politics, though. Rome has that.>> ^offsetSammy:

I love how the whole "born again" Christian culture is met with absolute ridicule outside the US. (As it should be.)

>> ^Lawdeedaw:
How did the debate become so simple? Raise taxes, build unions and universal healthcare versus cut taxes, free-market, personal responsibility. Does everything break down to this high school level prom-running event?
Call it pessimism or fatalism (Which it is not since I am trying to affect change for the better) but we complain like Rome when it fell--not like we should, not in a healthy way...
Sorry for the rant, which this last section was.


That post was packed to the gills with ideas, so forgive me for only trying to really respond to this one.

From where I sit, left vs. right is really about complexity vs. simplicity. It winds up being a binary choice, mostly because the right is unified behind a ridiculously simplistic philosophy (erase the government and life will be awesome), while every other possible idea gets lumped together as being "left".

Want to talk about policy we can put in place to make markets more efficient? Left-wing social engineering. Want to try to systematically cure poverty? Socialist, or maybe Communist. Want to try to find a way to keep us from killing ourselves with pollution? Nazi, clearly. Want to end wars, well, unless it's because you don't think government should have the power, you're obviously some kind of dirty hippie.

That accounts for a lot of the differences between the left & right political movements. We're mostly unified by being anti-right, rather than some idea of what we want to do. We'd probably still have trouble getting bills passed through Congress even if every seat was held by a Democrat.

Reasonable views QM, but how can we afford to fight Iran? And if so, could we really take on a threat like China or some other place afterwards...? We are weak as is... Extended like England, Rome, Greece... This isn't a gotcha question--this is a question conservatives must answer.

>> ^quantumushroom:

I like Paul on domestic issues, though he's full of sh t there too. He's already stated he wouldn't dismantle Social Security or Medicare.
Would never expect any liberal to vote for a guy who talks about dismantling the welfare state.
What seals Paul's fate is he sees no danger in a nuclear Iran.
Who wants money? I wouldn't spend one billion dollars to get a 400K-a-year job.

>> ^Lawdeedaw:
http://videosift.com/video/Jon-Stewart-Exposes-Mainstream
-Media-Bias-Against-Ron-Paul
This is why you should vote for Paul...because money hates him I love him.
And even, sigh, @quantumushroom (Remember, the liberals want the money too QM, so therefore if you vote a republican who wants the money, you are no better than those you hate...think on it...yes, that's a gotcha point, but it is still true...)

See, our problem isn't a man in an oval office. It is the abuse of our people by our people. I don't mind helping the poor, but what happens when our policies are meant to create poor? What happens when the government wants people to stay down by creating an education that promotes stupidity? As it has... I personally don't mind "entitlements" because we pay for them through taxes--social security, unemployment insurance, medicare/medicade, etc. But when does that end? Until we answer this (And it is a critical question) we will slide as a nation.

And "entitlements" also include artificially low tax rates for the rich (And poor.)

I speak to people on the street @NetRunner and they disgust me. Where you might see polite indifference I see ungrateful stupidity. Cutting in my line? Not that big a deal...except that's the way of life for our people, not a one-time occurrence. How did the debate become so simple? Raise taxes, build unions and universal healthcare versus cut taxes, free-market, personal responsibility. Does everything break down to this high school level prom-running event?

Call it pessimism or fatalism (Which it is not since I am trying to affect change for the better) but we complain like Rome when it fell--not like we should, not in a healthy way...

Sorry for the rant, which this last section was.

Now I'm curious....

Are there no commas in Italian? Are they inferred from sentence structure?


>> ^oritteropo:

My Italian is pretty basic, but I don't think it quite got the start right.
"Paoli Marco, young rapper and 1st year nursing student from Rome, has produced..."
>> ^bareboards2:
Google translate says:
"Paolo Marchi Roman young rapper as well as the 1-year nursing student has produced this project that is sweeping the web and is being proposed as the true anthem of students in nursing and health professions."
Well, maybe in Italy....
Welcome to the Sift!