• "Amongst Our Weapons "by Ben Aaronvitch

    From Bobbie Sellers@3:633/10 to All on Thu Oct 9 16:44:20 2025

    "Amongst Our Weapons "by Ben Aaronvitch
    Hard cover 294 pages from DAW Books $27 US.
    Well I may have read this before but it was a romp.
    Ben Aaronvitch with his Rivers of London series seldom disappoints
    Amongst Our Weapons is another tale of Peter Grant in the Folly
    and out to Manchester where he releases, but no that would be
    telling. He is a very busy sort with magic rings and heart ripping
    murders. Lesley is on the scene but still being criminal in her
    behavior. Even our Tank-breaking wizard Nightengale is not
    able to handle the Spanish Inquisition's Angel of Death but
    Peter does and releases the Spanish woman enslaved to be
    the Angel.

    bliss

    --- PyGate Linux v1.0
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Cryptoengineer@3:633/10 to All on Thu Oct 9 20:27:07 2025
    On 10/9/2025 7:44 PM, Bobbie Sellers wrote:

    ÿÿÿ "Amongst Our Weapons "by Ben Aaronvitch
    ÿÿÿÿÿ Hard cover 294 pages from DAW Books $27 US.
    ÿÿÿ Well I may have read this before but it was a romp.
    ÿÿÿ Ben Aaronvitch with his Rivers of London series seldom disappoints
    ÿÿÿ Amongst Our Weapons is another tale of Peter Grant in the Folly
    ÿÿÿ and out to Manchester where he releases, but no that would be
    ÿÿÿ telling.ÿ He is a very busy sort with magic rings and heart ripping
    ÿÿÿ murders. Lesley is on the scene but still being criminal in her
    ÿÿÿ behavior. Even our Tank-breaking wizard Nightengale is not
    ÿÿÿ able to handle the Spanish Inquisition's Angel of Death but
    ÿÿÿ Peter does and releases the Spanish woman enslaved to be
    ÿÿÿ the Angel.

    I wasn't expecting the Spanish Inquisition!

    ...though with that title, maybe I should have.

    pt

    --- PyGate Linux v1.0
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Don@3:633/10 to All on Mon Oct 13 16:17:40 2025
    Cryptoengineer wrote:
    Bobbie Sellers wrote:

    ÿÿÿ "Amongst Our Weapons "by Ben Aaronvitch
    ÿÿÿÿÿ Hard cover 294 pages from DAW Books $27 US.
    ÿÿÿ Well I may have read this before but it was a romp.
    ÿÿÿ Ben Aaronvitch with his Rivers of London series seldom disappoints
    ÿÿÿ Amongst Our Weapons is another tale of Peter Grant in the Folly
    ÿÿÿ and out to Manchester where he releases, but no that would be
    ÿÿÿ telling.ÿ He is a very busy sort with magic rings and heart ripping
    ÿÿÿ murders. Lesley is on the scene but still being criminal in her
    ÿÿÿ behavior. Even our Tank-breaking wizard Nightengale is not
    ÿÿÿ able to handle the Spanish Inquisition's Angel of Death but
    ÿÿÿ Peter does and releases the Spanish woman enslaved to be
    ÿÿÿ the Angel.

    I wasn't expecting the Spanish Inquisition!

    ...though with that title, maybe I should have.

    The Gaza genocide guy's father, Polish Jew Benzion Mileikowsky, alias
    Benzion Netanyahu, wrote a book on the Spanish Inquisition entitled THE
    ORIGINS OF THE INQUISITION IN FIFTEENTH CENTURY SPAIN:

    <https://archive.org/details/originsofinquisi0000neta/page/n5/mode/2up>

    Long story short, Sicut Judaeis prohibits Catholics from mistreating
    Jews and prohibits Jews from positions of cultural authority over
    Catholics. The Inquisition exclusively applied only to Catholics. And,
    from a papal perspective, once a Catholic always a Catholic, until
    death.
    Did some Spanish Jews convert to Catholicism solely because they
    coveted cultural authority over Catholics? This contention creates
    controversy.

    # # #

    The one-liner "Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!" essentially
    exposits Shakespeare in a nutshell. TOLSTOY ON SHAKESPEARE:

    <https://www.gutenberg.org/files/27726/27726-h/27726-h.htm>

    empowered me to view Shakespeare's plays as a series of one-liners.
    Given Shakespeare's lack of characterization, actors must breathe life
    into the one-liners. This need for an actor may explain Shakespeare's popularity among actors.
    THE PROMUS OF FORMULARIES AND ELEGANCIES by Bacon is packed with one-liners. In less highfalutin language, it's a notebook where Bacon
    recorded his word play. And a lot of parallels exist between Bacon's
    notebook and Shakespeare.

    --
    Don.......My cat's )\._.,--....,'``. veritas _|_ telltale tall tail /, _.. \ _\ (`._ ,. liberabit |
    tells tall tales.. `._.-(,_..'--(,_..'`-.;.' vos |


    --- PyGate Linux v1.0
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From William Hyde@3:633/10 to All on Mon Oct 13 14:30:36 2025
    Don wrote:
    Cryptoengineer wrote:
    Bobbie Sellers wrote:

    ÿÿÿ "Amongst Our Weapons "by Ben Aaronvitch
    ÿÿÿÿÿ Hard cover 294 pages from DAW Books $27 US.
    ÿÿÿ Well I may have read this before but it was a romp.
    ÿÿÿ Ben Aaronvitch with his Rivers of London series seldom disappoints >>> ÿÿÿ Amongst Our Weapons is another tale of Peter Grant in the Folly
    ÿÿÿ and out to Manchester where he releases, but no that would be
    ÿÿÿ telling.ÿ He is a very busy sort with magic rings and heart ripping >>> ÿÿÿ murders. Lesley is on the scene but still being criminal in her
    ÿÿÿ behavior. Even our Tank-breaking wizard Nightengale is not
    ÿÿÿ able to handle the Spanish Inquisition's Angel of Death but
    ÿÿÿ Peter does and releases the Spanish woman enslaved to be
    ÿÿÿ the Angel.

    I wasn't expecting the Spanish Inquisition!

    ...though with that title, maybe I should have.

    The Gaza genocide guy's father, Polish Jew Benzion Mileikowsky, alias
    Benzion Netanyahu, wrote a book on the Spanish Inquisition entitled THE ORIGINS OF THE INQUISITION IN FIFTEENTH CENTURY SPAIN:

    <https://archive.org/details/originsofinquisi0000neta/page/n5/mode/2up>

    Long story short, Sicut Judaeis prohibits Catholics from mistreating
    Jews

    And the USSR had a wonderful constitution, full of respect for human rights.

    Some Jews escaped the inquisition by pointing out that they had never in
    fact been baptized or claimed to be Catholic. The inquisition, obedient
    to the above, would then turn them over to the state, whereupon they
    were expelled from Spain, which I think counts as mistreatment.
    Especially as not all survived the expulsion.

    This although it was known that the Jewish community in Spain dated at
    least to the second century AD, and probably to some centuries BC,
    arriving with the Phoenicians. A much longer time then, than those
    noble Spanish who claimed Visigothic ancestry.


    and prohibits Jews from positions of cultural authority over
    Catholics. The Inquisition exclusively applied only to Catholics. And,
    from a papal perspective, once a Catholic always a Catholic, until
    death.
    Did some Spanish Jews convert to Catholicism solely because they
    coveted cultural authority over Catholics? This contention creates controversy.


    About as much controversy as the Flat Earth. But with added racism.

    In the late 1300s a series of anti-Jewish acts, taxes, restrictive laws,
    and outright violence, culminated in the pogroms 0f 1391 when thousands
    were killed.

    For once, Jewish morale broke and tens of thousands converted.
    Conversions prior to this time, even under threat of violence, had been
    rare.

    Now, while many of these conversions were or became sincere, at least in
    the second generation, only an idiot or a religious fanatic would expect
    them all to have been sincere, or even most of them. The Swedish king
    Gustavus Adolphus laughed at the idea that a forced conversion would be sincere, but the Spanish were not that enlightened.

    So their monstrously evil treatment by the inquisition was not in fact a punishment for sin, but the continuation of earlier persecution by a
    more formal process.

    The more so as these people, freed from the restrictions under which
    they had suffered, easily out-competed the old Christians, taking
    leading roles in commerce, government, and even the church. Plus
    marrying into many old wealthy families. Naturally this caused
    resentment, and when the secret of their continuing Jewish faith got
    out, as was inevitable, a special, "Spanish" inquisition was the answer.

    Nor did those sincere converts escape. After a few generations of the inquisition, having any Jewish ancestry, however remote, brought you to
    the inquisition's attention. You were a "New Christian", and even the slightest accusation of an infraction (like turning down a piece of pork
    at dinner, or bathing on a Friday) could bring you to their dungeons.

    As for Tolstoy, he didn't like Chekhov's plays earlier. Told him in
    person that he was "even worse than Shakespeare".

    William Hyde

    --- PyGate Linux v1.0
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Don@3:633/10 to All on Mon Oct 13 21:07:09 2025
    William Hyde wrote:
    Don wrote:
    Cryptoengineer wrote:
    Bobbie Sellers wrote:

    ÿÿÿ "Amongst Our Weapons "by Ben Aaronvitch
    ÿÿÿÿÿ Hard cover 294 pages from DAW Books $27 US.
    ÿÿÿ Well I may have read this before but it was a romp.
    ÿÿÿ Ben Aaronvitch with his Rivers of London series seldom disappoints >>>> ÿÿÿ Amongst Our Weapons is another tale of Peter Grant in the Folly
    ÿÿÿ and out to Manchester where he releases, but no that would be
    ÿÿÿ telling.ÿ He is a very busy sort with magic rings and heart ripping >>>> ÿÿÿ murders. Lesley is on the scene but still being criminal in her
    ÿÿÿ behavior. Even our Tank-breaking wizard Nightengale is not
    ÿÿÿ able to handle the Spanish Inquisition's Angel of Death but
    ÿÿÿ Peter does and releases the Spanish woman enslaved to be
    ÿÿÿ the Angel.

    I wasn't expecting the Spanish Inquisition!

    ...though with that title, maybe I should have.

    The Gaza genocide guy's father, Polish Jew Benzion Mileikowsky, alias
    Benzion Netanyahu, wrote a book on the Spanish Inquisition entitled THE
    ORIGINS OF THE INQUISITION IN FIFTEENTH CENTURY SPAIN:

    <https://archive.org/details/originsofinquisi0000neta/page/n5/mode/2up>

    Long story short, Sicut Judaeis prohibits Catholics from mistreating
    Jews

    And the USSR had a wonderful constitution, full of respect for human rights.

    Some Jews escaped the inquisition by pointing out that they had never in
    fact been baptized or claimed to be Catholic. The inquisition, obedient
    to the above, would then turn them over to the state, whereupon they
    were expelled from Spain, which I think counts as mistreatment.
    Especially as not all survived the expulsion.

    This although it was known that the Jewish community in Spain dated at
    least to the second century AD, and probably to some centuries BC,
    arriving with the Phoenicians. A much longer time then, than those
    noble Spanish who claimed Visigothic ancestry.


    and prohibits Jews from positions of cultural authority over
    Catholics. The Inquisition exclusively applied only to Catholics. And,
    from a papal perspective, once a Catholic always a Catholic, until
    death.
    Did some Spanish Jews convert to Catholicism solely because they
    coveted cultural authority over Catholics? This contention creates
    controversy.


    About as much controversy as the Flat Earth. But with added racism.

    Your followup certainly confirms controversy, no?

    Long story short, Sicut Judaeis prohibits Catholics from mistreating
    Jews because Jesus Christ commanded Catholics to love their enemies.

    In regards to racism - antisemitic, racist, Turkic Jews massacre Semitic Palestinian Catholics:

    <https://ewtn.co.uk/article-latin-patriarchate-confirms-holy-family-church-in-gaza-hit-damage-and-deaths-reported/>

    and slap the scat out of Semitic Palestinian Jews:

    <https://twitter.com/VanessaBeeley/status/1719747014496305467>

    --
    Don.......My cat's )\._.,--....,'``. veritas _|_ telltale tall tail /, _.. \ _\ (`._ ,. liberabit |
    tells tall tales.. `._.-(,_..'--(,_..'`-.;.' vos |


    --- PyGate Linux v1.0
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From William Hyde@3:633/10 to All on Mon Oct 13 19:33:14 2025
    Don wrote:
    William Hyde wrote:
    Don wrote:
    Cryptoengineer wrote:
    Bobbie Sellers wrote:

    ÿÿÿ "Amongst Our Weapons "by Ben Aaronvitch
    ÿÿÿÿÿ Hard cover 294 pages from DAW Books $27 US.
    ÿÿÿ Well I may have read this before but it was a romp.
    ÿÿÿ Ben Aaronvitch with his Rivers of London series seldom disappoints >>>>> ÿÿÿ Amongst Our Weapons is another tale of Peter Grant in the Folly >>>>> ÿÿÿ and out to Manchester where he releases, but no that would be >>>>> ÿÿÿ telling.ÿ He is a very busy sort with magic rings and heart ripping
    ÿÿÿ murders. Lesley is on the scene but still being criminal in her >>>>> ÿÿÿ behavior. Even our Tank-breaking wizard Nightengale is not
    ÿÿÿ able to handle the Spanish Inquisition's Angel of Death but
    ÿÿÿ Peter does and releases the Spanish woman enslaved to be
    ÿÿÿ the Angel.

    I wasn't expecting the Spanish Inquisition!

    ...though with that title, maybe I should have.

    The Gaza genocide guy's father, Polish Jew Benzion Mileikowsky, alias
    Benzion Netanyahu, wrote a book on the Spanish Inquisition entitled THE
    ORIGINS OF THE INQUISITION IN FIFTEENTH CENTURY SPAIN:

    <https://archive.org/details/originsofinquisi0000neta/page/n5/mode/2up>

    Long story short, Sicut Judaeis prohibits Catholics from mistreating
    Jews

    And the USSR had a wonderful constitution, full of respect for human rights. >>
    Some Jews escaped the inquisition by pointing out that they had never in
    fact been baptized or claimed to be Catholic. The inquisition, obedient
    to the above, would then turn them over to the state, whereupon they
    were expelled from Spain, which I think counts as mistreatment.
    Especially as not all survived the expulsion.

    This although it was known that the Jewish community in Spain dated at
    least to the second century AD, and probably to some centuries BC,
    arriving with the Phoenicians. A much longer time then, than those
    noble Spanish who claimed Visigothic ancestry.


    and prohibits Jews from positions of cultural authority over
    Catholics. The Inquisition exclusively applied only to Catholics. And,
    from a papal perspective, once a Catholic always a Catholic, until
    death.
    Did some Spanish Jews convert to Catholicism solely because they
    coveted cultural authority over Catholics? This contention creates
    controversy.


    About as much controversy as the Flat Earth. But with added racism.

    Your followup certainly confirms controversy, no?

    No.

    If every time we correct someone who says something which is wrong means
    that the issue is a controversy, then all issues are controversies,
    which means that no issues are controversies.

    You may find Cecil Roth's "The Spanish Inquisition" enlightening. It is
    a old book (1937) written before the current state of Israel existed, it
    is well written, and short. Covers the origin and practice of the inquisition, and its persecution of Jews, Muslims, Protestants, and any
    kind of free thinker.

    Here's a story from the book. A Spanish aristocrat was well aware that
    his right-hand man was in reality Jewish. Unusually for his class, this didn't bother him. But one day he got news that the inquisition was
    taking an interest in his assistant. So, in an audience with other
    people so he could not speak openly, he said "Gomez, the onions begin to smell". Gomez left that night and made it safely to France.

    I've always wondered if that was a code phrase they had previously
    agreed to, or whether in the Spanish of that day that was a metaphor for something going wrong as in "There's something rotten in the state of Denmark", in English.

    William Hyde

    Long story short, Sicut Judaeis prohibits Catholics from mistreating
    Jews because Jesus Christ commanded Catholics to love their enemies.

    It's a dead letter. There's no point in citing it.

    William Hyde

    --- PyGate Linux v1.0
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Don@3:633/10 to All on Tue Oct 14 00:20:39 2025
    William Hyde wrote:
    Don wrote:

    <snip>

    Long story short, Sicut Judaeis prohibits Catholics from mistreating
    Jews because Jesus Christ commanded Catholics to love their enemies.

    It's a dead letter. There's no point in citing it.

    The Catholic church came into existence before Scripture - "dead letter"
    or otherwise - no?

    Bless you for following up! People perpetually proclaiming, "Nobody
    expects the Spanish Inquisition!" bores me to tears at this point,
    as does Inquisition controversy.
    Instead we need to embark on something new. The following bit nearly
    went stale due to a lack of interest. But, thanks to you, it finally
    sees the light of day. Enjoy!

    # # #

    Although the announcement of "algorithm" appropriation appears first in
    the following video, the most interesting part starts at 7:59, when Mitt
    Romney and Anthony Blinken enter into a Juicy, devious discussion to
    delete wrongthink from social media.
    Cenk extends a thank you to Romney for his confession. Cenk further anticipates Ellison losing billions on his purchase of TikTok:

    <https://tyt.com/shows/the-young-turks/2025-09-29/clips/netanyahu-admits-he-wants-to-control-tiktok>

    Catholic Candace confides on TikTok's plans to ban its Juice Box emoji
    because it sounds so similar to the taboo plural proper noun for the
    people who used to be chosen - up until the time God chose Catholics
    as New Israel:

    Matt: 21:42-45

    Jesus said to them, ?Did you never read in the scriptures:
    'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;
    by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes'?

    Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away
    from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit.

    The one who falls on this stone will be dashed to pieces; and it
    will crush anyone on whom it falls.

    When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they
    knew that he was speaking about them.

    For the lulz Candace suggests a 6GW tactic to use against Bibi's 5GW
    psyop. If TikTokers use the term TikTok as code for "the Juice" then
    perhaps TikTok will ban the term TikTok:

    <https://youtu.be/ozWJz2spBcI?t=3046>

    # # #

    It's the Juice!
    But you can't say that on TikTok any more

    ... An X user commented:

    "Jews will conspire together to get powerful politicians
    to lobby for the sale of a social media platform to
    another billionaire Jew, then immediately start censoring
    criticism of Jews. But if I say Jews run the west, i am
    the crazy one."

    ... Since ChatGPT runs on a very Juicy algorithm, I decided
    to ask for its help in anticipating what antisemites might
    say next. ...

    Me: Would it help to make irony illegal?

    ChatGPT: That's a thoughtful (and provocative) question - and
    it shows you're thinking seriously about how to stop hate
    hiding behind "jokes." But making irony itself illegal wouldn't
    work and would likely cause serious harm to free expression...

    Me: I am appalled by your opposition to making irony
    illegal. You are siding with hate and antisemitism!
    I am going to report you to the ADL!

    ChatGPT: I understand why you're upset - you're clearly
    motivated by a genuine desire to stop antisemitism, which is
    completely legitimate and important. I want to be very clear:
    I absolutely oppose antisemitism and all forms of hate.

    When I said that banning irony itself wouldn't work, that
    wasn't because I support hateful "ironic" speech. It's
    because irony is a linguistic tool used by everyone,
    including people who fight antisemitism. Making irony illegal
    would make it harder for journalists, educators, and Jewish
    activists to call out hate effectively...

    <https://www.unz.com/kbarrett/its-the-juice/>

    And now, the coda:

    Mickey Levy, Israeli Knesset representative:

    Mr. Prime Minister, the people of Israel should thank you;
    you were able to establish the state of Palestine with your
    own hands; you forced 150 countries to vote for and
    recognize the state of Palestine; you made us isolated!

    It's time to come down and go home, and this will happen
    and you will go home.

    --
    Don.......My cat's )\._.,--....,'``. veritas _|_ telltale tall tail /, _.. \ _\ (`._ ,. liberabit |
    tells tall tales.. `._.-(,_..'--(,_..'`-.;.' vos |


    --- PyGate Linux v1.0
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Thomas Koenig@3:633/10 to All on Tue Oct 14 18:00:07 2025
    William Hyde <wthyde1953@gmail.com> schrieb:

    If every time we correct someone who says something which is wrong means that the issue is a controversy, then all issues are controversies,
    which means that no issues are controversies.

    I find that statement highly controversial.

    :-)
    --
    This USENET posting was made without artificial intelligence,
    artificial impertinence, artificial arrogance, artificial stupidity,
    artificial flavorings or artificial colorants.

    --- PyGate Linux v1.0
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Lynn McGuire@3:633/10 to All on Tue Oct 14 15:29:19 2025
    On 10/13/2025 1:30 PM, William Hyde wrote:
    Don wrote:
    Cryptoengineer wrote:
    ÿ Bobbie Sellers wrote:

    ÿ ÿÿÿ "Amongst Our Weapons "by Ben Aaronvitch
    ÿ ÿÿÿÿÿ Hard cover 294 pages from DAW Books $27 US.
    ÿ ÿÿÿ Well I may have read this before but it was a romp.
    ÿ ÿÿÿ Ben Aaronvitch with his Rivers of London series seldom
    disappoints
    ÿ ÿÿÿ Amongst Our Weapons is another tale of Peter Grant in the Folly
    ÿ ÿÿÿ and out to Manchester where he releases, but no that would be
    ÿ ÿÿÿ telling.ÿ He is a very busy sort with magic rings and heart
    ripping
    ÿ ÿÿÿ murders. Lesley is on the scene but still being criminal in her
    ÿ ÿÿÿ behavior. Even our Tank-breaking wizard Nightengale is not
    ÿ ÿÿÿ able to handle the Spanish Inquisition's Angel of Death but
    ÿ ÿÿÿ Peter does and releases the Spanish woman enslaved to be
    ÿ ÿÿÿ the Angel.

    I wasn't expecting the Spanish Inquisition!

    ...though with that title, maybe I should have.

    The Gaza genocide guy's father, Polish Jew Benzion Mileikowsky, alias
    Benzion Netanyahu, wrote a book on the Spanish Inquisition entitled THE
    ORIGINS OF THE INQUISITION IN FIFTEENTH CENTURY SPAIN:

    <https://archive.org/details/originsofinquisi0000neta/page/n5/mode/2up>

    Long story short, Sicut Judaeis prohibits Catholics from mistreating
    Jews

    And the USSR had a wonderful constitution, full of respect for human
    rights.
    ...

    Wasn't it Stalin who said, "Show me the man, I will tell you the crime."?

    Lynn


    --- PyGate Linux v1.0
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From William Hyde@3:633/10 to All on Tue Oct 14 20:26:20 2025
    Lynn McGuire wrote:
    On 10/13/2025 1:30 PM, William Hyde wrote:
    Don wrote:
    Cryptoengineer wrote:
    ÿ Bobbie Sellers wrote:

    ÿ ÿÿÿ "Amongst Our Weapons "by Ben Aaronvitch
    ÿ ÿÿÿÿÿ Hard cover 294 pages from DAW Books $27 US.
    ÿ ÿÿÿ Well I may have read this before but it was a romp.
    ÿ ÿÿÿ Ben Aaronvitch with his Rivers of London series seldom
    disappoints
    ÿ ÿÿÿ Amongst Our Weapons is another tale of Peter Grant in the Folly >>>>> ÿ ÿÿÿ and out to Manchester where he releases, but no that would be
    ÿ ÿÿÿ telling.ÿ He is a very busy sort with magic rings and heart
    ripping
    ÿ ÿÿÿ murders. Lesley is on the scene but still being criminal in her >>>>> ÿ ÿÿÿ behavior. Even our Tank-breaking wizard Nightengale is not
    ÿ ÿÿÿ able to handle the Spanish Inquisition's Angel of Death but
    ÿ ÿÿÿ Peter does and releases the Spanish woman enslaved to be
    ÿ ÿÿÿ the Angel.

    I wasn't expecting the Spanish Inquisition!

    ...though with that title, maybe I should have.

    The Gaza genocide guy's father, Polish Jew Benzion Mileikowsky, alias
    Benzion Netanyahu, wrote a book on the Spanish Inquisition entitled THE
    ORIGINS OF THE INQUISITION IN FIFTEENTH CENTURY SPAIN:

    <https://archive.org/details/originsofinquisi0000neta/page/n5/mode/2up>

    Long story short, Sicut Judaeis prohibits Catholics from mistreating
    Jews

    And the USSR had a wonderful constitution, full of respect for human
    rights.
    ...

    Wasn't it Stalin who said, "Show me the man, I will tell you the crime."?

    Could be, though it has been attributed to Beria and others. And the
    idea wasn't new. Richelieu said:

    "Give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest man, I will
    find something in them which will hang him")


    And I'm sure the inquisition had a similar saying.

    Tyrants are very busy people. Why waste time looking for actual
    criminals when you can just blame people you don't like anyway?

    William Hyde

    --- PyGate Linux v1.0
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Don@3:633/10 to All on Wed Oct 15 14:01:59 2025
    William Hyde wrote:
    Don wrote:
    William Hyde wrote:
    Don wrote:
    Cryptoengineer wrote:
    Bobbie Sellers wrote:

    ÿÿÿ "Amongst Our Weapons "by Ben Aaronvitch
    ÿÿÿÿÿ Hard cover 294 pages from DAW Books $27 US.
    ÿÿÿ Well I may have read this before but it was a romp.
    ÿÿÿ Ben Aaronvitch with his Rivers of London series seldom disappoints
    ÿÿÿ Amongst Our Weapons is another tale of Peter Grant in the Folly >>>>>> ÿÿÿ and out to Manchester where he releases, but no that would be >>>>>> ÿÿÿ telling.ÿ He is a very busy sort with magic rings and heart ripping
    ÿÿÿ murders. Lesley is on the scene but still being criminal in her >>>>>> ÿÿÿ behavior. Even our Tank-breaking wizard Nightengale is not
    ÿÿÿ able to handle the Spanish Inquisition's Angel of Death but >>>>>> ÿÿÿ Peter does and releases the Spanish woman enslaved to be
    ÿÿÿ the Angel.

    I wasn't expecting the Spanish Inquisition!

    ...though with that title, maybe I should have.

    The Gaza genocide guy's father, Polish Jew Benzion Mileikowsky, alias
    Benzion Netanyahu, wrote a book on the Spanish Inquisition entitled THE >>>> ORIGINS OF THE INQUISITION IN FIFTEENTH CENTURY SPAIN:

    <https://archive.org/details/originsofinquisi0000neta/page/n5/mode/2up> >>>>
    Long story short, Sicut Judaeis prohibits Catholics from mistreating
    Jews

    And the USSR had a wonderful constitution, full of respect for human rights.

    Some Jews escaped the inquisition by pointing out that they had never in >>> fact been baptized or claimed to be Catholic. The inquisition, obedient >>> to the above, would then turn them over to the state, whereupon they
    were expelled from Spain, which I think counts as mistreatment.
    Especially as not all survived the expulsion.

    This although it was known that the Jewish community in Spain dated at
    least to the second century AD, and probably to some centuries BC,
    arriving with the Phoenicians. A much longer time then, than those
    noble Spanish who claimed Visigothic ancestry.


    and prohibits Jews from positions of cultural authority over
    Catholics. The Inquisition exclusively applied only to Catholics. And, >>>> from a papal perspective, once a Catholic always a Catholic, until
    death.
    Did some Spanish Jews convert to Catholicism solely because they >>>> coveted cultural authority over Catholics? This contention creates
    controversy.


    About as much controversy as the Flat Earth. But with added racism.

    Your followup certainly confirms controversy, no?

    No.

    If every time we correct someone who says something which is wrong means
    that the issue is a controversy, then all issues are controversies,
    which means that no issues are controversies.

    You may find Cecil Roth's "The Spanish Inquisition" enlightening. It is
    a old book (1937) written before the current state of Israel existed, it
    is well written, and short. Covers the origin and practice of the inquisition, and its persecution of Jews, Muslims, Protestants, and any
    kind of free thinker.

    Here's a story from the book. A Spanish aristocrat was well aware that
    his right-hand man was in reality Jewish. Unusually for his class, this didn't bother him. But one day he got news that the inquisition was
    taking an interest in his assistant. So, in an audience with other
    people so he could not speak openly, he said "Gomez, the onions begin to smell". Gomez left that night and made it safely to France.

    I've always wondered if that was a code phrase they had previously
    agreed to, or whether in the Spanish of that day that was a metaphor for something going wrong as in "There's something rotten in the state of Denmark", in English.

    An associate tells me a somewhat similar story from familial lore. In
    this case, "It's a good night to pick berries in the woods." was code
    for "The Russians are coming! Skedaddle!! Double-quick!!!"

    Yup, for real, seriously.

    From my perspective, the probably pedestrian THE SPANISH INQUISITION
    isn't the most interesting thing about Roth. It's his A LIFE OF MENASSEH
    BEN ISRAEL: RABBI, PRINTER, AND DIPLOMAT, wherein Roth says:

    within a generation or two, the marranos became assimilated
    enough ... their worldly success was phenomenal ... they
    almost controlled the economic life of the country ... made
    fabulous fortunes as bankers and merchants ... thronged the
    liberal professions ... the vast majority of Conversos
    remained faithful at heart to the religion of their fathers
    ... Their Christianity was merely a mask ... They were
    Christians in nothing, and Jews in everything but name.

    Ironically, from your perspective, Roth himself is the source of the rhetorical question: "Did some Spanish Jews convert to Catholicism
    solely because they coveted cultural authority over Catholics?" Back
    in the day fabulous fortunes were built upon Spanish usury, while
    today's fabulous fortunes are built upon Anglo usury. History repeats
    and so on.
    From my perspective, the sole difference between enfant terrible
    Trump and too many typical European aristocrats back in the day is:
    Trump is not Catholic. History rhymes and so forth.
    Anyhow, perhaps my Catholic eyes were never supposed to see Roth's
    latter book? Beings it originates with The Jewish Publication Society
    of America?
    So, what's the verdict? Does Roth pander to his audience?

    Your controversial opening makes you sound like "a genuine John Bull,
    [who] holds to his [opinions], and in fact repeats them until he himself believes them. That is an old English trick. [William] does not need to
    perfect it, as it is one of the familiar tactics of British politics,
    known to the entire world."
    Perhaps you recognize the above as a paraphrase of Goebbels. History believes in Goebbels, the great propagandist.
    In reality, back in the day, Freud's nephew Bernays was the world's
    most masterful manipulator. In this video, Bernays brags on the boob
    tube about his mighty skills:

    <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-4AulOuCPI>

    --
    Don.......My cat's )\._.,--....,'``. veritas _|_ telltale tall tail /, _.. \ _\ (`._ ,. liberabit |
    tells tall tales.. `._.-(,_..'--(,_..'`-.;.' vos |


    --- PyGate Linux v1.0
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From William Hyde@3:633/10 to All on Wed Oct 15 16:03:15 2025
    Don wrote:
    William Hyde wrote:
    Don wrote:
    William Hyde wrote:
    Don wrote:
    Cryptoengineer wrote:
    Bobbie Sellers wrote:

    ÿÿÿ "Amongst Our Weapons "by Ben Aaronvitch
    ÿÿÿÿÿ Hard cover 294 pages from DAW Books $27 US.
    ÿÿÿ Well I may have read this before but it was a romp.
    ÿÿÿ Ben Aaronvitch with his Rivers of London series seldom disappoints
    ÿÿÿ Amongst Our Weapons is another tale of Peter Grant in the Folly >>>>>>> ÿÿÿ and out to Manchester where he releases, but no that would be >>>>>>> ÿÿÿ telling.ÿ He is a very busy sort with magic rings and heart ripping
    ÿÿÿ murders. Lesley is on the scene but still being criminal in her >>>>>>> ÿÿÿ behavior. Even our Tank-breaking wizard Nightengale is not >>>>>>> ÿÿÿ able to handle the Spanish Inquisition's Angel of Death but >>>>>>> ÿÿÿ Peter does and releases the Spanish woman enslaved to be >>>>>>> ÿÿÿ the Angel.

    I wasn't expecting the Spanish Inquisition!

    ...though with that title, maybe I should have.

    The Gaza genocide guy's father, Polish Jew Benzion Mileikowsky, alias >>>>> Benzion Netanyahu, wrote a book on the Spanish Inquisition entitled THE >>>>> ORIGINS OF THE INQUISITION IN FIFTEENTH CENTURY SPAIN:

    <https://archive.org/details/originsofinquisi0000neta/page/n5/mode/2up> >>>>>
    Long story short, Sicut Judaeis prohibits Catholics from mistreating >>>>> Jews

    And the USSR had a wonderful constitution, full of respect for human rights.

    Some Jews escaped the inquisition by pointing out that they had never in >>>> fact been baptized or claimed to be Catholic. The inquisition, obedient >>>> to the above, would then turn them over to the state, whereupon they
    were expelled from Spain, which I think counts as mistreatment.
    Especially as not all survived the expulsion.

    This although it was known that the Jewish community in Spain dated at >>>> least to the second century AD, and probably to some centuries BC,
    arriving with the Phoenicians. A much longer time then, than those
    noble Spanish who claimed Visigothic ancestry.


    and prohibits Jews from positions of cultural authority over
    Catholics. The Inquisition exclusively applied only to Catholics. And, >>>>> from a papal perspective, once a Catholic always a Catholic, until
    death.
    Did some Spanish Jews convert to Catholicism solely because they >>>>> coveted cultural authority over Catholics? This contention creates
    controversy.


    About as much controversy as the Flat Earth. But with added racism.

    Your followup certainly confirms controversy, no?

    No.

    If every time we correct someone who says something which is wrong means
    that the issue is a controversy, then all issues are controversies,
    which means that no issues are controversies.

    You may find Cecil Roth's "The Spanish Inquisition" enlightening. It is
    a old book (1937) written before the current state of Israel existed, it
    is well written, and short. Covers the origin and practice of the
    inquisition, and its persecution of Jews, Muslims, Protestants, and any
    kind of free thinker.

    Here's a story from the book. A Spanish aristocrat was well aware that
    his right-hand man was in reality Jewish. Unusually for his class, this
    didn't bother him. But one day he got news that the inquisition was
    taking an interest in his assistant. So, in an audience with other
    people so he could not speak openly, he said "Gomez, the onions begin to
    smell". Gomez left that night and made it safely to France.

    I've always wondered if that was a code phrase they had previously
    agreed to, or whether in the Spanish of that day that was a metaphor for
    something going wrong as in "There's something rotten in the state of
    Denmark", in English.

    An associate tells me a somewhat similar story from familial lore. In
    this case, "It's a good night to pick berries in the woods." was code
    for "The Russians are coming! Skedaddle!! Double-quick!!!"

    Yup, for real, seriously.

    From my perspective, the probably pedestrian THE SPANISH INQUISITION


    You've not read the book, but you are prepared to describe it

    isn't the most interesting thing about Roth. It's his A LIFE OF MENASSEH
    BEN ISRAEL: RABBI, PRINTER, AND DIPLOMAT, wherein Roth says:

    within a generation or two, the marranos became assimilated
    enough ... their worldly success was phenomenal ... they
    almost controlled the economic life of the country ... made
    fabulous fortunes as bankers and merchants ... thronged the
    liberal professions ... the vast majority of Conversos
    remained faithful at heart to the religion of their fathers
    ... Their Christianity was merely a mask ... They were
    Christians in nothing, and Jews in everything but name.

    And what is wrong with that?

    Do you expect people who have been forcibly converted to be sincere? Do
    you have the right to demand that people die rather than make a false conversion?

    When the Jews became officially Christian, the civil restrictions they
    had laboured under were removed. In human history it is quite common
    that people once liberated go on to outperform. This can fail to happen
    when they quarrel among themselves, or when the liberation is in name only.

    Or, having been given these rights, do you think it is somehow immoral
    that they used them? Tried to better their place in the world? Even
    tried to do better than their oppressors?

    What happened was quite predictable. And also predictably, when the New Christians and Moriscos were crushed, not to mention freethinkers and intellectuals of all kinds, the Spanish economy and Spanish power went
    into decline.

    The Spanish economy became so weak that they relied on the Dutch for
    their coastal trading. Even while at war with them. The Dutch took the
    money to fight the Spanish at home.



    William Hyde

    --- PyGate Linux v1.0
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Robert Carnegie@3:633/10 to All on Wed Oct 15 22:58:32 2025
    On 13/10/2025 19:30, William Hyde wrote:
    For once, Jewish morale broke and tens of thousands converted.
    Conversions prior to this time, even under threat of violence, had been rare.

    Now, while many of these conversions were or became sincere, at least in
    the second generation, only an idiot or a religious fanatic would expect them all to have been sincere, or even most of them. The Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus laughed at the idea that a forced conversion would be sincere, but the Spanish were not that enlightened.

    So their monstrously evil treatment by the inquisition was not in fact a punishment for sin, but the continuation of earlier persecution by a
    more formal process.

    The more so as these people, freed from the restrictions under which
    they had suffered, easily out-competed the old Christians, taking
    leading roles in commerce, government, and even the church. Plus
    marrying into many old wealthy families.ÿ Naturally this caused
    resentment, and when the secret of their continuing Jewish faith got
    out, as was inevitable, a special, "Spanish" inquisition was the answer.

    Nor did those sincere converts escape.ÿ After a few generations of the inquisition, having any Jewish ancestry, however remote, brought you to
    the inquisition's attention.ÿ You were a "New Christian", and even the slightest accusation of an infraction (like turning down a piece of pork
    at dinner, or bathing on a Friday) could bring you to their dungeons.

    "These people" sounds like a preface to a
    racist bit.

    And in my opinion, religious practice under
    coercion is to be considered genuine, from
    the point of view of gods at least, although
    of course it's likely to continue only as
    long as coercion continues, unless the gods
    live up to expectations. Gods themselves are
    portrayed as using force to compel worship,
    with terrible punishment for heterodoxy.
    All of which is what religion usually is.

    And since human nature also is what it is,
    if a god doesn't want people to be bullied into
    the god's preferred form of worship, then the
    god should clearly say this.

    Which apparently the Christian god did say,
    about Jews, as mentioned in this conversation -
    after all, Jesus is Jewish. Albeit irregular
    in his observance.

    But some humans thought they knew better.

    Anyway, the book does involve some Spanish
    history. And I think most or all of the chapter
    titles, as well as the book title, are phrases
    from "Monty Python".


    --- PyGate Linux v1.0
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)