h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

>>The two World Wars, *of the 20th century*, took place on every populated continent on Earth<<

warner, I've highlighted the part of your post which makes my point. I haven't denied that from the perspective of some, there were two world wars in the 20th century. To others, there have been more or there have been less.

To many, there was at least one prior to the 20th century, and for some we are currently engaged in one.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7_years_war

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War

Now instead of playing wiki Pong, you could try and engage in a reasoned argument, but you're going to have to accept the facts are on my side here.

You claimed that Fuhrer meant 'Great Leader' and it was important to your post. However, it simply doesn't - it means leader or guide, derived from the German verb 'fuhren', to lead. Others have pointed out that it's a rare army that doesn't go to war with a leader.

An aside to the whole armies were fluffy wuffy bunnies to civilians. There's a theory that claims the period where armies were nice to civilians coincides with the widespread cultivation of potatoes across Northern and Western Europe.

Prior to that grains were the main foodstuff and easily requisitioned by armies, leaving the civilians to starve. Frederick the Great of Prussia noticed that areas where potatoes were cultivated stood up better to requisitioning and suffered less famine. He encouraged the cultivation of potatoes all across Prussia, which might have contributed to Prussia's ability to defeat all of its foes in the 7 Years War.

Other leaders noticed and introduced spuds into their own countries. It meant that armies could still requisition grain supplies, but the locals didn't starve.

>>Parchment was not cheap<<

Indeed it wasn't. Apparently, this explains that:
http://www.sumware.com/creation.html

All your posts so far, confirm my feeling that "World War III" is not stoppable by anybody (particularly by me ), but that doesn't stop me conveying my understanding and conclusions that I've reached as a researcher.

For those who don't believe in the Bible or Qur'an, I'm not at all surprised that they deny the apocalypse.

3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.
Matthew Chap 24
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

2 And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.
3 And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.
4 Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.
Revelation Chap 15

Since the German 'der Führer' can also be translated as 'driver', perhaps that great driver Lewis Hamilton is a portent of the apocalypse.

Another possibility is 'scoutmaster'.

More translations:
http://dict.leo.org/ende?lp=ende&p=KO6ek.&search=F%FChrer


And who was that Austrian F1 driver?

Lauda.

I said WHO WAS THAT AUSTRIAN F1 DRIVER?

Oh look! - Quangle Wangle time again:

They went to sea in a Sieve, they did,
In a Sieve they went to sea:
In spite of all their friends could say,
On a winter's morn, on a stormy day,
In a Sieve they went to sea!
And when the Sieve turned round and round,
And every one cried, "You'll all be drowned!"
They called aloud, "Our Sieve ain't big,
But we don't care a button! we don't care a fig!
In a Sieve we'll go to sea!"
Far and few, far and few,
Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
Their heads are green, and their hands are blue,
And they went to sea in a Sieve.

warner:

I believe that 'Beowulf' is a better guide to living a moral life than is the Quran. I'm not surprised that you continue to deny it (especially since you've not bothered to read it [it must be read in the original, of course -- translation doesn't count]).

>>translation doesn't count

That's a little unfair to Seamus Heaney, surely?

I meant from a guidance-in-life point of view, Ed.



('Seamus Heaney' It's a little unfair to me, too -- you haven't lived until you've translated Beowulf )

I don't know if anyone's ever translated Edward Lear...but here's some Lewis Carrol in Czech:

Je svacxvecxer. Lysperní jezeleni
se vírnex vrtácxejí v mokrxavex.
Vetcharxí hadrousxci jsou roztruchleni
a selvy sysxtí tesknoskuhravex.

Ooh! Someone has!

Auf der Oberseite des Crumpetty Baums
das Quangle Wangle gesessen,
aber seinem Gesicht, die Sie nicht sehen konnten,
wegen seines Biber-Hutes. Für seinen Hut waren die hundert und zwei Füße breit,
mit Bändern und bibbons auf jeder Seite
und Glocken und Tasten und Schleifen und Spitze,
damit niemand das Gesicht
des Quangle Wangle Quee überhaupt sehen konnte.


A bit of a Babelfish job, I reckon. Doesn't really work as poetry.

http://gb.asterix.com/asterix-in-latin/

Och! We used to read those at school.

Here's another Czech translation of the same verse of the same Lewis Carroll. Aren't they different?

Bylo smazxno, lepex svihlí tlové
se batoumali v dàlnici,
chrudosxní byli borolové
na mamné krsy zxàrnící.

At least in that one, we can recognise the 'svihlí tlové' and 'borolové'.

And guess who's found another source of material for following up extracts from the Qu'ran?

The idea of translating nonsense is fascinating, isn't it? and germane to this thread, in fact.

You've just reminded me how much I enjoyed reading Asterix - damnit, I feel a round of compulsive book buying about to come on!!!

This just in:

'A wide-ranging study on American religious life found that the Roman Catholic population has been shifting out o of the Northeast to the Southwest, the percentage of Christians in the nation has declined and more people say they have no religion at all.

Fifteen percent of respondents said they had no religion, an increase from 14.2 percent in 2001 and 8.2 percent in 1990, according to the American Religious Identification Survey.'

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090309/ap_on_re/rel_religious_america

How far west?

Maybe we can trigger the San Andreas fault early, and let them have their own island....

>>Roman Catholic population has been shifting out o of the Northeast to the Southwest<<

I think this just means that the Irish, Italian, Polish etc immigrants are three or four generations on and have joined the mainstream, ie non-religious, while the Hispanic population is increasing in the southwest.

As the Hispanic population gains materially they will lose the voodoo as well. There's a reason why the Church has worked so hard to keep it's people in abject poverty; it's not just the greed of the bishops, it's that they understand that someone with something to live for in this world is less likely to be charmed by baseless promises of the next.

>>As the Hispanic population gains materially they will lose the voodoo as well.

As they have in Spain.