Gaius Octavius

Ha! I beat you! Got minus 24.

Had the U.S. done what Pres. Truman said he would have, i.e., invited Castro to the White House and given him a bath, shave and haircut, things might very well have gone differently. Or in the words of the Godfather (may he rest in peace), keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Or in the words of Arafat, who should I talk to but my enemy? During the glorious sergeant Batista years, criminals of all stripes - gangsters, First National City Bank, the American Fruit Co., the King Ranch and their own home grown oligarchs had Batista, (the one put in power by the U.S.), in their thrall and kept the overwhelming majority of the people in peonage. Education of any sort, including Moonlapse's variety, was non-existent, save for that bit provided by the Roman Catholic Church. Medicine was the province of the rich and only the rich. Where would anyone get the time or garner the wits or give a rat's tail to care about politics if he labored most of the day; didn't have a bar of soap, a light bulb or God forbid, a book? When rice and beans (at best) were his sustenance? This was the 'freedom' and 'liberty' he was supposed to lay his life down for? (Is the U.S. policy a fight for freedom and liberty or the return of the above criminals' sequesterd properties?) But, we all know, they rallied round the Batista gang and valiantly were subjugating the scoundrel Castro, when Kruschev, who didn't give a tinker's damn about Castro, intervened and set the Devil up on the throne. Batista and his clique, as we all know, fought for their freedom and liberty to the last man. Or was that just long enough to fill their trunks with gold and head off to Miami? This mouldy, greedy lot of louts and cowards are favourably compared to the Minute Men! Today, Cuba has more doctors per capita than any other nation on Earth. Literacy is a hair short of 100%. The polloi don't go without the necessities of life. Perhaps, Fidel's dictatorship is what was needed to take the unwashed out of bondage - out of the bondage imposed by the prior U.S. approved dictators. If Dr. Castro murdered his political opponents, was he any different from his predecessors? Cuba is lacking, but we subsidize our sugar growers in Florida, in the interests of free trade and the Cuban exile vote. We trade with our former arch-enemies, Russia, China and Viet-Nam but not our neighbor. Perhaps if Cuba were dependent on our trade things wouldn't be in the soup. Does all this add up to Fidel being a saint? Of course not. A little Christian charity would go a long way though. Or to put it another way, 'mind your own business'! (A quaint liberal capitalist idea.) Since I speak of Christianity, I take leave to state that after the Spanish-American War, the island was divided into seven Protestant districts, one each for each approved sect. This, so that the Catholics could be converted to a U.S. government approved faith.

Erm... No. Rome lost the war more than once. However, we should not forget that politics was as important then as today. If your soldiers can't keep the enemy at bay, then lets cut a deal with them before they wreak havoc. Have we got enough gold? Admittedly some cultures really don't care much for talking - yet even the huns did. Rome lost battles more than once. Hannibal never won wars. Rome did not treat with Carthage, save to lay down the rules of the road.

Capt. Liddell-Hart; British Army. Thanks

Egads...that was bad Judge for yourself! http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...d=si&img=74 DoLl

Poo! The Peccadillos and Problems of Pauline!

P., that site rates a Glorious WOW!

"Hah? Is sun profit when ohighyo? Maybe. Or melior B : anyone , you are imbibe Anyone? Can't, walk all way to school. "Got those...forced translator blues", Making fun of Engrish everywhere. Butt....let's get back to talking about Vulcan's, or Oliver Reed's, butt! How droll. One might say, how spurious. Did not miss your 'butt'. WKIM. Is that what is called screaming in computerese?

Hanging Heaton. How informing. Do any of your deceased ancestors have an "S.P.C." on their tombstones? I take it that Ribchester was the ancestral home of Adam.

Hah? Is the sun getting to ohighyo? Or option B: "WHAT?, you are drinking WHAT?"

Baths & sex; booze & sex; culture & sex! War & Sex! Ah those Romans had it all right! Elementary, my dear WotWotius! Some historian felt that one of the contributing factors for the Fall was the deforestation of Italy.

Because an author makes a favorable judgement on a subject, it does not follow that the author is a partisan of the subject. If this were the case with Dodge, his work surely would be tainted. BTW, one can probably get the book cheaper in a neighborhood book store. MP Cato: Is JFC Fuller the author who maintained that Scipio was the greatest captain of history?

He also wrote books on Hannibal and Alexander. He walked many of the battle fields he discusses and illustrates what he speaks of. They are not difficult reads.

The Browning! The Browning! A gaggle of Jack Russels. Tex? A bazooka.

I'm relieved.

I know you were, but the present will be the past in the future and our outlook in hindsight will change. You managed to omit: "If hindsight were foresight...." You are hereby authorized to be fully tempted. Whatever sanity or insanity you bring on all's heads, will, of course, be truly appreciated.

Pantagathus, I was speaking of the 'present'. Add TV's and cars to your list. And I know that the orientals are not slackers. Dr. Dalby, you enforce my point. The gorgonzola making Russians did not establish a factory in Italy and thus drive their manufacture into oblivion. For myself, how could I ever deprive myself of ark&sass gator tail?

Diocletian's (and others) diluting the gold content of Roman coinage was akin to the Federal Reserve pumping dollars into the US economy. The result was and is inflation on a grand scale. The so called 'free trade' in the world today is really an exportation of middle class jobs. A company sets up its facilities abroad and re-imports their products. This is not the same as importing the products another nation produces on its own account. This is really a sort of mercantilism. The price of the product does not decrease as can be seen in the case of sneakers. The prices of truly foreign made products does decrease in reference to home made products, but there is also a corresponding and proportional decrease in the quality of the products. The Romans imported much of their wheat, luxury goods, spices, wine, etc., without a corresponding increase in their exports, resulting in the Diocletian problem and price fixing. The Romans did not encourage manufactures for both home consumption and export.

There was a quake? hehe You haven't recovered your, should one charitably say, senses yet? It will be in The Times tomorrow.

Oh by Jove no, I hold my birds of prey in the highest esteem. If Sufflavus was selected, there was a reason... Maybe he was the original mastermind of the aggresive defilement? Squirrely see squirrely do No sir you err. Sufflavus was sacred to Venus. It was the god of herbs who sent the dastardly vultue to slay the innocent one. I have lately been in conference with Jove on the matter. You may take all I have disinvaginated to the bank!

We will reach a point where there will be exceptionally few able to buy the so-called imported goods. As Viggen says, this is silly, but good. Not even the Romans were tops at EVERYTHING. Those Greeks still had a few good things to say for themselves. Things are really going to Hades in a handbag though. The House of Representatives cafeteria has reverted to FRENCH toast and FRENCH fries! Can you credit it? And by the super patriots!

Hannibal probably did the right thing. It is reported somewhere that the Romans were trading the land under his feet. Not a good omen. But then, if the rabbit didn't stop to....

I dare say that it was one of the infamous Lord Pertinax' flying vultures that did the evil deed. Undoubtedly, it was of a cowardly nature passing up such tasty tree rat entrees. Perchance the cowardly vulture was wearing a red coat? Mayhaps a suitable libation should be at hand to wash down a proper entree. In future, if the flying coward does not co-operate, I suggest that you call up the Minute Men or the Green Mountain Boys. They would love to have another chance at the Red Coat. I note that DoL has put her penny in. It would be best to ignore her, as her otherwise peaceful neck of the provincial outback was shattered by a force four quake. Her alleged brain is probably still having a good rattle in the vacuum. Her head is probably of no assistance whatever at this point. Then there is the long standing matter of an A/C. Charity and understanding are commended to Your Magnificent Greekness. Anon.

Re Soc. Sec.: republiks, buckleyites (whose acolytes don't have a clue as to what he belches), the rectal ranger reeganuts and the neopathetics, who regurgitate the vomit of their masters, have one object: to destroy the S.S. Sys. Not because they have a desire to do any good for the great unwashed but rather because their masters reject the very thought that they have to contribute to the system. They are ignorant of, or feign ignorance of, the fact that this is a cost of labor and a deduction from their fraudulent 'bottom lines' and thus their tax burden. Best for these slackers and thieves to then steal it from you and me, the shareholders. The nation has been at war for most of its existence for the benefit of this lot. Their blood is not spilled. This is where history and experience come into play. The system was launched during the Great Depression, (in reality for the benefit of Pres. Roosevelt's class), as the state legislatures (particularly in the now Red States) were becoming infested with communists and socialists. The congress had the disease of Vito Marcantonio to contend with. Aside from Roosevelt's good intentions, something had to be done for the starving polloi, lest the nation go over to the Dark Side. Ergo, Social Security, amongst others. At the time few were expected to live beyond age 65, so no big deal to the government. As usual, the FUND would soon find its way into the purses of the 'proper people', the 'good families'. The most did not and could not save for their retirements as they had all to do keeping body and soul together under the guidance of such benefactors as Ford and Carnege(?) and Rockefeller. The above mentioned 'acolytes' feel that they should be able to rub dumpers with them, this hopefully resulting in a 'lock'. Soon they will experience the joys of flatulence and feculence. At this time, California was populated by the citizen 'dregs' of humanity. At the time many of these louts were refused entry into paradise by that state's police. It was at this time that mac arthur*, the great general and patriot and all around incompetant, AGAINST THE ORDERS of pres. hoover, FIRED on the WWI veterans for daring to peacefully march, under the banner of a valiant Marine general, for their meagre service bonus before they and their families starved to death. Ah!, but then there is hoover, himself. After WWI, he supervised the giving away of food to starving Belguim. A gift, free, nada, zilch! When his 'free market' administration held that 'prosperity was just around the corner', they gave food to the grocers for free, nada, zilch. These in turn were obligated to 'sell' said to the rabble. These yokels (particularly in the south), had a word in the cup likes of the grocers - along with a rope to clarify any misunderstandings, and the food was then distributed free of charge. Charity: By this, one may assume that the soup kitchen of Al Capone in Chicago is meant. Or, mayhaps, the charity of the of the newly poor whose vaults were emptied by the bank failures and stock market dive. Or do we mean Rockefeller's public relations 'dime'? In conclusion: By all 'means', let's have done with S.S. I wonder if it is known that a pauper given a million bucks today and invests it properly, will merely be poor? That little matter of inflation will soon return him to his former estate. But we must have charitable thoughts for the top management of corporations with their personal boards and back dated options. Now for Taxes: Yes, it is the welfare queens, slackers and cannon fodder who eat them up. Not the 'good people'. Therefore away with them. Each can build his own highway and with his Second Amendment alleged 'right', protect himself. Keep a bucket handy in the unlikely event of a fire. Do home schooling. Have his own FDA to protect him against kangaroofurters and e-coli snout burgers and the assorted mountbanks hawking their potions on the uwary. Have his own back yard well for water in the outhouse and kitchen and tub. Just too bad if one lives in a city. Museums? Libraries? Parks? Why bother? And lest it is forgotten, ones own Soc. Sec. Sys. As a digression, I wonder how well it is known amongst the first mentioned ignoratti, that Medicare, save for numb-orchid's Part D, has a 2% overhead, while the vaunted HMO's have an average 18%? Of course, it feels so much better to pay ones taxes to an HMO than one of the government's few successful programs for the komrades. Don't forget best to come down with a stroke while one is out of his service area. A 'medical professional', located in nearby Tanu Tuva, with many home schooling diplomas, and speaking Thracian, will assist you for quite a very long while as your brain turns into cheese. At Last, Books: It is my personal, unalterable, inflexible and determined view that all rug-rats over the age of three be lavished with books. Not, however to the exclusion of a baseball, doll or coloring book. * Please get me started on that traitor.