Last thing you Watched/Read.

[Sergey]

Leet World

[i_like_1981]

The music video for Road to Nowhere by Talking Heads, from 1985:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPQcnjlwtE4
This is what the 80's were all about - bizarre pop videos!

Best regards,
i_like_1981

[i_like_1981]

A History of Violence. A top-class film. There was a scene in this film where some kid was getting bullied by a jock in a PE locker room over some basebore game and then went on to beat the guy and his mate up... although that scrap was far from the most violent bit in the film. The blood sure flew in that one.

Best regards,
i_like_1981

[Nick]

Kid's fault for sucking at sports.

I'm almost finished with The Crossroads of Twilight - Wheel of Time Book 10. On page 605.

[Fat Man]

Kid's fault for sucking at sports.

Oh! Now I see!

So kids deserve to get beaten up if they suck at sports? Eh?

How about if the jocks in high school get laughed at and humiliated in the classroom if they can't read or write beyond the 3rd grade level?

Perhaps all the bright students (the nerds and geeks) who are scoring high grades in science and math, they should all get together and gang up on the jocks and laugh at the jocks for being such retarded morons!

How would you like it, if all the jocks were humiliated every day in the classroom by the bright students and even by the teachers?

When I was in high school, at 17 years old, I weighed 230 pounds, and I could have easily beaten the crap out of some of the jocks in my school. I would love to have beaten the holy crap out of them if the sucked at science and math. Now that would have been fun!

Now, what would you think of that?

But if I had done that, then, I would only be sinking down to their level, and then, I would be no better than the jocks!

So, because I was a much better person than all the jocks combined, having much higher moral principles, it would have been undignified of me to sink down to their level.

No, I had no desire to get down in the gutter with the jocks!

There is a word for punks like you.

You're just a gutter-snipe!

Now, go crawl into your sewer. It's getting late, and way past your bedtime, little boy!

[i_like_1981]

Don't worry, Fat Man. We won't be hearing any more from this so-called "non-sports fan" who seemed to be most keen to defend them and the abusive actions of their more aggressive participants. And finally, our threads will be able to stay on-topic and we won't have to hear any more pointless crap about the wonders of drugs. (Although the second part of Nick's post was on-topic, so I can only go so far with this.)

Anyways, I watched last night's Doctor Who episode on BBC iPlayer last night. Matt Smith doesn't really seem to be any different to the previous one, David Tennant. You can tell he's trying to emulate him. Decent episode - the Daleks were back in this one, and we got a historical setting (1940 during the Blitzkrieg - well before my time). I shall stick with this series. I particularly like the episodes set in the past - I'm keeping my fingers cross that in one episode, the Doctor will go to the 80's with his new Scottish girlfriend (or sidekick? It's hard to say).

And I'm also enjoying Ashes to Ashes' third series. That's looking good; last episode was set against the backdrop of the 1983 General Election (which was of course, a victory for Thatcher who stayed in office for another 7 years - I can vaguely remember her standing down at the start of the 90s). I can't wait till next Friday night. I'm looking forward to finding out more on the whole Sam Tyler subplot.

Best regards,
i_like_1981

[Fat Man]

Right now, I'm watching Fiddler On The Roof.

No, not on cable TV. I'm watching it on my DVD player.

It's a really cool movie, about some Jewish families living in a small village in Czarist Russia at the turn of the 20th century.

Ah! Thank God Nick has been banned from these forums, or otherwise he would have something bad to say about Jews.

[i_like_1981]

Ah! Thank God Nick has been banned from these forums...

He's back now! Check the guestbook. I knew he'd be back eventually... I could tell his work on this site was unfinished. Maybe on the forums it is done, but the Guestbook... I thought he'd go there. They always do. Well, I suppose he's not the worst hater this site has come across. I must admit, he's certainly not the dumbest 14-year-old I've ever encountered. Back when I was that age half the people in my school year couldn't communicate without swearing every other word and there were some damn low grades around... even though I was one of the younger students, being born in June 1981 when my year permitted entry for those born between 1 September 1980 - 31 August 1981, lots of the older students went mad at me for just generally working harder and getting better grades than they did. "OH 1981 YA FUCKIN NERD! ANOTHER A IS IT? YOUR SUCH A GEEK! GET A LIFE!" Yes, those were the days (except they obviously didn't call me 1981!).

Best regards,
i_like_1981

[Fat Man]

I just finished watching a program on the National Geographic Channel.

Witch Hunter's Bible

A team of investigators joins forces to unravel the mysteries of the Malleus Maleficarum.

The Malleus Maleficarum is Latin for Hammer Of The Witches.

Here's some more information.

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

Malleus Maleficarum

The Malleus Maleficarum (Latin for "The Hammer of Witches", or "Der Hexenhammer" in German) is a famous treatise on witches, written in 1486 by Heinrich Kramer, an Inquisitor of the Catholic Church, and was first published in Germany in 1487. Jacob Sprenger is also often attributed as an author, but some scholars now believe that he became associated with the Malleus Maleficarum largely as a result of Kramer's wish to lend his book as much official authority as possible.

The main purpose of the Malleus was to attempt to systematically refute arguments claiming that witchcraft does not exist, discredit those who expressed skepticism about its reality, to claim that witches were more often women than men, and to educate magistrates on the procedures that could find them out and convict them. Kramer was denounced by the Inquisition in 1490.

Genesis

The Malleus Maleficarum was published in 1487 by Heinrich Kramer (Latinized Institoris) and James Sprenger (also known as Jacob or Jakob Sprenger). Scholars have debated how much Sprenger contributed to the work. Some say his role was minor while others say there is little evidence for this claim.

In 1484 Kramer made one of the first attempts at a systematic persecution of witches in the region of Tyrol. It was not a success, Kramer was thrown out of the territory, and dismissed by the local bishop as a "senile old man". According to Diarmaid MacCulloch, writing the book was Kramerâ??s act of self-justification and revenge. Some scholars have suggested that following the failed efforts in Tyrol, Kramer and Sprenger requested and received a papal bull Summis desiderantes affectibus in 1484. It allegedly gave full papal approval for the Inquisition to prosecute witchcraft in general and for Kramer and Sprenger specifically. Malleus Maleficarum was written in 1484 or 1485 and the papal bull was included as part of the preface. The preface also includes an approbation from the University of Cologneâ??s Faculty of Theology. The authenticity of the Cologne endorsement was first questioned by Joseph Hansen but Christopher S. Mackay rejects his theory as a misunderstanding. The Malleus Maleficarum drew on earlier sources like the Johannes Nider's treatise Formicarius, written 1435/37.

The book became the handbook for witch-hunters and Inquisitors throughout Late Medieval Europe. Between the years 1487 and 1520, the work was published thirteen times. It was again published between the years of 1574 to 1669 a total of sixteen times. Regardless of the authenticity of the papal bull and endorsements which appear at the beginning of the book, its presence contributed to the popularity of the work.

Folk belief in reality of witchcraft had been denied by the church in earlier centuries; Charlemagne had specifically outlawed the old practice of witch burning "in the manner of the pagans". By the 15th century belief in witches was once again openly accepted in European society, but they typically suffered penalties no more harsh than public penances such as a day in the stocks. Persecution of witches became more brutal following the publication of the Malleus, with witchcraft being accepted as a real and dangerous phenomenon.

Contents

The Malleus Maleficarum asserts that three elements are necessary for witchcraft: the evil-intentioned witch, the help of the Devil, and the Permission of God. The treatise is divided up into three sections. The first section tries to refute critics who deny the reality of witchcraft, thereby hindering its prosecution. The second section describes the actual forms of witchcraft and its remedies. The third section is to assist judges confronting and combating witchcraft. However, each of these three sections has the prevailing themes of what is witchcraft and who is a witch. The Malleus Maleficarum can hardly be called an original text, for it heavily relies upon earlier works such as Visconti and, most famously, Johannes Nider's Formicarius (1435).

Section I

Section I argues that because the Devil exists and has the power to do astounding things, witches exist to help, if done through the aid of the Devil and with the permission of God. The Devilâ??s power is greatest where human sexuality is concerned, for it was believed that women were more sexual than men. Libidinous women had sex with the Devil, thus paving their way to become witches. According to the Malleus â??all witchcraft comes from carnal lust, which is in women insatiable.â?

Section II

In section II of the Malleus Maleficarum, the authors turn to matters of practice by discussing actual cases. This section first discusses the powers of witches, and then goes into recruitment strategies. It is mostly witches as opposed to the Devil who do the recruiting, by making something go wrong in the life of a respectable matron that makes her consult the knowledge of a witch, or by introducing young maidens to tempting young devils. This section also details how witches cast spells and remedies that can be taken to prevent witchcraft or help those that have been affected by it.

Section III

Section III is the legal part of the Malleus that describes how to prosecute a witch. The arguments are clearly laid for the lay magistrates prosecuting witches. Institoris and Sprenger offer a step-by-step guide to the conduct of a witch trial, from the method of initiating the process and assembling accusations, to the interrogation (including torture) of witnesses, and the formal charging of the accused. Women who did not cry during their trial were automatically believed to be witches.

Major themes

Because the work deals with women as witches, some believe and claim that the Malleus Maleficarum is a work of misogyny. The treatise describes how women become inclined for witchcraft, claiming they were susceptible to demonic temptations through their manifold weaknesses. It was believed that they were weaker in faith and were more carnal than men. Michael Bailey claims that most of the women accused as witches had strong personalities and were known to defy convention by overstepping the lines of proper female decorum. After the publication of the Malleus, most of those who were prosecuted as witches were women. Indeed, the very title of the Malleus Maleficarum is feminine, alluding to the idea that it was women who were the villains. Otherwise, it would be the Malleus Maleficorum (the masculine form of the Latin noun maleficus or malefica, 'witch'), which would mean The Hammer of (Male) Witches. In Latin, the feminine "Maleficarum" would only be used for women while the masculine "Maleficorum" could be used for men alone or for both sexes if together.

The Malleus Maleficarum accuses witches of infanticide, cannibalism, casting evil spells to harm their enemies, and having the power to steal menâ??s penises. It goes on to give accounts of witches committing these crimes.

The Malleus Maleficarum was heavily influenced by humanistic ideologies. The ancient subjects of astronomy, philosophy, and medicine were being reintroduced to the West at this time, as well as a plethora of ancient texts being rediscovered and studied. The Malleus often makes reference to the Bible and Aristotelian thought, and it is also heavily influenced by the philosophical tenets of Neo-Platonism. It also mentions astrology and astronomy, which had recently been reintroduced to the West by the ancient works of Pythagoras.

Reasons for widespread use

The Malleus Maleficarum was able to spread throughout Europe so rapidly in the late fifteenth and the beginning of the sixteenth century due to the innovation of the printing press in the middle of the fifteenth century by Johannes Gutenberg. That printing should have been invented thirty years before the first publication of the Malleus, which instigated the fervor of witch hunting, and, in the words of Russell, "the swift propagation of the witch hysteria by the press was the first evidence that Gutenberg had not liberated man from original sin." The Malleus is also heavily influenced by the subjects of divination, astrology, and healing rituals the Church inherited from antiquity.

The late fifteenth century was also a period of religious turmoil, for the Protestant Reformation was but a few decades in the future. The Malleus Maleficarum and the witch craze that ensued took advantage of the increasing intolerance of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation in Europe, where the Protestant and Catholic camps, pitted against one another, each zealously strove to maintain the purity of faith.

Consequences

Between 1487 and 1520, twenty editions of the Malleus were published, and another sixteen editions were published between 1574 and 1669. Popular accounts suggest that the extensive publishing of the Malleus Maleficarum in 1487 launched centuries of witch-hunts in Europe. Estimations of deaths have varied widely. According to MacCulloch, the Malleus was one of several key causes of the witch craze, along with popular superstition, jealously of witches' knowledge from humanist scholars, and tensions created by the Reformation.

Now, from what I have read in the past I learned that The Inquisition officially ended on 1830 with the last person being burned at the stake in Mexico.

But I have a Jewish friend (who's name I shall not mention here) who once mentioned to me that his great grandfather was accused of witchcraft and burned at the stake in Mexico sometime back in the 1840s.

So, I guess there is really no way to know exactly when the Inquisition actually ended.

[i_like_1981]

Last thing I watched was "Grumpy Guide to the '80s", which I checked out last night on BBC. Well, they were insulting a lot of the old 80's stuff which defined the decade, like the earliest personal computers and video games, but it was a good laugh - I have to admit, the 80's had a tendency to be very, very cheesy! I don't remember much about them personally even though I was alive for most of them but now I look back on it, it was good to be around in such a quirky and memorable era.

Best regards,
i_like_1981

[SmartSportsPerson]

Last thing I read? The sports section of today's paper. And I reckon a few of you did as well just to get the old hateful juices brewing again, so as to get these mini-essays back on the screen! Come on, don't deny it. You can't resist sports. Hate them, yes, but y'all can't stop talking about them. Some of you keep coming back on here every day to keep slating the sports all the time. I find that a little excessive. Why don't you try finding something you like and talking about that? Because rant at sports all you want on here, it won't do anything in the long run. You know that.

[Earl]

So, why do you care what we say? After all, this is just a ranting board. If you don't like what any of us say here, you're free to leave.

Oh, I understand. You think sports are sacred. Please excuse me. I will say this, though: You may be surprised to hear me say this; but I respect athletic achievement, just as I do any other endeavor that requires self-discipline and sustained effort; and I try to view athletes as individuals. I even have a few friends who played football in high school. But (unlike you) I draw the line when sports are used to hurt others. You, on the other hand, apparently have a "hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil" attitude about the sports culture. Sadly, so do so many other people, including those who run the sports media, which is little more than a propaganda mill.

[James]

yeah, this sportsdude is a rite timew@ster. he should try and watch/read sum decent stuff and not be a total n00b. i Have recently been enjoying the classic COSMOS series which som kind person has uploaded to youtube. good stuff. totally win.

[i_like_1981]

yeah, this sportsdude is a rite timew@ster. he should try and watch/read sum decent stuff and not be a total n00b. i Have recently been enjoying the classic COSMOS series which som kind person has uploaded to youtube. good stuff. totally win.

He's a timewaster? At least he can capitalise and spell correctly. Oh, and as for the link, HA HA. You're forgetting that some of us actually LIKE cheesy old stuff like that. You really are damaging my feelings.

Best regards,
i_like_1981

[HugeFanOfBadReligion]

I just came back from the theatre after watching Inception. In my opinion, that is the greatest movie of all time. It was an experience I've never had while watching a movie. It isn't a movie where you can walk into the theatre, turn your brain off, and wait for people to start shooting each other. It requires you to actually pay attention to everything in the film, and you have to do a lot of thinking to understand it. It was such a fascinating film and it really makes you think more than you usually will. The plot was great, I think everything was great, it is my new favourite movie, I recommend it to anyone (except for a brain dead jock who wouldn't be able to understand the movie, he'd only be able to drool and grunt at certain parts of the film), and it really gave me the chills, especially at the end. It was just such an amazing film, and I'd watch it again and again, and I probably will when it is released on DVD.