Pope: Catholics should ask gay people for forgiveness

[Ben Kenobi]

California is in the west. Ben is a stupid sack of ****.

The Missouri Compromise Line was 36'30''. Last I checked, Los Angeles was only 34'. You live in the south, sir. Southern Democrat!

[Giancarlo]

Is Ben still being that Ted Cruz loving TEXAN he is?

Still ignored!

[Proteus_MST]

I would argue that Greek was the strongest even in the middle ages, down to about the 13th century or so. It was only after the 4th Crusade that this changed. Prior to this, Greek was stronger. You could argue maybe after the 11th after Mazikert, but I don't really see it.

The byzantine empire actually had one flaw:
It was too centered around Constantinople and the Basileus ...
meaning that the wellbeing of the empire was extremly dependant on the abilities of the Basileus ...
and also resulting in the crusaders being able to bring large parts of the empire under their control, immediately after they had taken Constantinople

[ZEE]

OK, you guise, so far so good. But I want to see moar drama. Moar curse-words. Moar yelling and screaming. We were on the right track for a while, but I feel things have calmed down a bit. This is simply unacceptable.

and... GO!

[Giancarlo]

OK, you guise, so far so good. But I want to see moar drama. Moar curse-words. Moar yelling and screaming. We were on the right track for a while, but I feel things have calmed down a bit. This is simply unacceptable.

and... GO!

Na done with that. I'm really going cold turkey on dip**** (promising you one curse word).

I need to put on a drag show.

[Berzerker]

You'd better turn in your libertarian card if you believe that tax cuts have to 'be made up'. Since when did you become a democrat?

If Democrats and Republicans believed tax cuts have to be made up we wouldn't be trillions in debt

[Giancarlo]

As I have said in the past... all pro-free market parties and ideologies are rooted in total fiction and are lacking factually. That includes the falsehood known as libertarianism.

[Ben Kenobi]

The byzantine empire actually had one flaw:
It was too centered around Constantinople and the Basileus ...
meaning that the wellbeing of the empire was extremly dependant on the abilities of the Basileus ...
and also resulting in the crusaders being able to bring large parts of the empire under their control, immediately after they had taken Constantinople

Well, from the Tetrarchy under Diocletian - you have from 293, more than a thousand years. That's almost an unfathomably long period of time. The only existing nation that even comes close to it is England, and even they are still under 1k years.

[Ben Kenobi]

If Democrats and Republicans believed tax cuts have to be made up we wouldn't be trillions in debt

So you're in favor of never cutting taxes, because that would be bad. Wow. Welcome to the Democrat party, Berz.

[Bereta_Eder]

Byzantium was rife with intra-fighting.
Actually it is a wonder how it was able to withstand for so long.

It also had a LOT of catholic converts, some of which were even its empresses. They got married to the emperor of the time.

At its later stages it had like... 4 emperors and 5 emperesses!!!
All fighting for the throne, It made things complicated.

Its two primary families when the Palaiologus and the Catacuzene that defined it particularly from 1200 onward.

The schemes were so thick and relentless that's where "Byzantine structure" gets its meaning

The 4rth crusade weakening it is equiavalant to a drop in the ocean of the intrafighting and even that was reversed.

[Bereta_Eder]

The reason why it lasted so long is two fold.

One was the duality. An emperor to control the bodies and a patriarch to control the minds.
Another was that it was an amalgam of all military techniques of the time. Roman legions, greek phalanxes, greek fire and shipping technology, arabian formations and assassinations you name it.

Its intrafighting was constant and fierce though and many fractions used "outside help" to further their goals.

The advancement of the seljuks from the east and the powerful commerical states like venice from the west coupled with said intrafighting and plain refusal to re-structure itself was a prelude to its demise.

At one time the despotate of ipirus was completely autonomous of constantinople and even used catholics to guarantee its intedepndence (untill they became too clingy)

In asia minor in nicopolis a high ranking officer after his success against the turks and the admiration of the local population proclaimed himself emperor and severed an entire region from constantinople. (he was assassinated after the empressess failed to convince him to stand down)


The trapezound kingdom in the black sea was also broken away and legitimately its king held the title of emperor of the byzantine empire of trapezound, complete with all insignia.

Lots of things were happening.

[Bereta_Eder]

And its end was something like this:

When the father of palaiologina, thomas, fled from mistra in 1460 he took his family as refugees to rome. sixtus iv arranged for her to be married with ivan iii, grand prince of moscow. she was to be his agent for the conversion of russians to roman catholicism. russians however declined to be converted and the marriage was celebrated in moscow according to the byzantine orthodox rite of her ancestors. her husband and his people called her sophia.
he was the first russian prince to adopt the title of the tsar the slav equivalent of emperor.
he also adopted as his eblem of state the late byzantine device of the double headed eagle
but these minor manifestations of byzantine imperialism need not be cerdited to the influence of his young wife sophia. she served her husband faithfully and gave him 4 sons. one of which was ivan iv the terrible. she died in 1503.
the last byzantine lady cannot therefore be held responsible for engendering the later russian fantasy that moscow was the third rome of the christian world

[Berzerker]

So you're in favor of never cutting taxes, because that would be bad. Wow. Welcome to the Democrat party, Berz.

you support subsidies and increasing debt and you accuse me of being the Democrat? lol

[Giancarlo]

Ben would single handedly cause a recession and his policies would only favor the elite. I am glad someone as fanatical and insane as him could never be President.

[Ben Kenobi]

Ben would single handedly cause a recession and his policies would only favor the elite.

We have the lowest workforce participation since the 70s, and the economy still hasn't recovered from 2009 - which is unprecedented. We have the lowest post-war growth.

I would cut spending, and to a lesser degree cut taxes. Dept of education would be on the chopping block, after the IRS and Dept of Energy - which is no longer serving it's purpose. Education is a state issue, there is no need for federal involvement in education.