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Mick Harper
Site Admin
In: London
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The YouTube you recommend, Scottie, is economically illiterate on three grounds
1. The Tether does not need to have $700 million on hand because there are $700 millions-worth of Bitcoins in circulation. This is like demanding the Bank of England having reserves equal to the number of British pounds in circulation.
2. Bitcoin is a unit of exchange, it does not matter whether it is going up or going down long term, its users only require it be solvent and relatively the same value over, say, a week. If people want to speculate on it by holding it long term and hoping it will go up, that is a different matter. It might or it might not.
3. The fact that there is a relationship between the Tether and the Bitcoin purveyors is irrelevant. It is obvious that the former is just the latter trying to evade (daft) US Treasury controls. Yes, it is true that the Tether/Purveyors will have a jump on the chump but that is true of all market insiders in all speculative markets. Only chumps think they can beat the market. Though as it happens everybody has made money on Bitcoins so far. Usually a bad sign.
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N R Scott
In: Middlesbrough
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You're quite right come to think about it, especially regarding the tether aspect of it (I think). I have faith that le Bon is onto something though.
I get the impression that very few people actually use Bitcoin as a currency. I think most people buy it as an investment in the belief that it will one day become a viable currency. So it's possibly a huge confidence trick. And the numbers involved are starting to get quite big.
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Mick Harper
Site Admin
In: London
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The US Treasury has just given permission for trading in Bitcoins. This presumably means the end of the Tether arrangement. If not, then a scam is an ever-present possibility.
| I think most people buy it as an investment in the belief that it will one day become a viable currency |
Then they shouldn't, it already is a viable currency. If they mean a semi-official currency (see above) then the current price -- based on curiosity, politics and a thin market -- is clearly unsustainable. Remember, Bitcoin is not like an Old Master i.e. valueless in its own right but scarce, it is subject to an infinitely expandable supply.
Still it could be a sound investment. The last time something like this happened was with German re-unification. I told everyone I knew to hotfoot over to East Germany and buy up as many Ostmarks as they could (non-convertible but going four for one Deutschmark on the quite open black market). I pointed out that the West Germans were sure to offer a terrific exchange rate both for political reasons and to ensure everyone made the exchange. Though even I was surprised when it turned out to be one-for-one!
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Wile E. Coyote
In: Arizona
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On all things Roman, we have hinted that the "son of god" is not what he seems.
Let's take a look.
http://www.edgarlowen.com/augustus-10485.jpg
Who are we looking at?
Conventional wisdom says it's a "Restitution Coin" ie a coin that celebrates an earlier period by reproducing the imagery.
So what you see is a coin issued at the time of Trajan that celebrates Augustus (he is on the obverse). OK, you might wonder why Augustus looks like Apollo and Wile can tell you that is because Apollo's daily task was to harness his chariot with four horses and drive the Sun across the sky. Apollo was famous for his oracle at Delphi and the dolphin was his animal.
But who are the figures on the reverse. They are Lucius and Gaius.....
Conventionally we are led to believe that Augustus wanted to prepare succession so issued coinage with his preferred successors Lucius (Light or Shining) and Gaius (Rejoice Divine one) It's called "Succession" coinage.
So Augustus/Apollo the sun god was due to be seceded by Light Rejoice. The fact that according to history both Lucius and Gaius died before succession didn't stop Trajan issuing Restitution coinage celebrating Augustus' famous succession coinage.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julio-Claudian_family_tree
Mysterious eh?
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Wile E. Coyote
In: Arizona
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Of course, the symbolism on one coin means not a lot.
The Augustus/Lucius/Gaius issues are thought to have run to millions of non precious coins with thousands in precious metals. Existing issues were recast.
Round about 2 BC conventional chronology the Roman world is starting to be flooded with these images, many coming from Lugdunum.
That's about 3-500 years before the first images of christ were to be seen.
https://churchpop.com/2015/03/09/6-of-the-oldest-images-of-jesus/
Some histories of Britain recall a King Lucius (the first king)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_of_Britain
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Wile E. Coyote
In: Arizona
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| Wile E. Coyote wrote: | Of course, the symbolism on one coin means not a lot.
The Augustus/Lucius/Gaius issues are thought to have run to millions of non precious coins with thousands in precious metals. Existing issues were recast.
Round about 2 BC conventional chronology the Roman world is starting to be flooded with these images, many coming from Lugdunum.
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Still Wiley can see some continuity here First Triumvirate.....Second Triumvirate and then according to orthodoxy the empire is flooded with images of a Emperor his planned successor and a replacement...... that is if the planned successor suffers misfortune.
Tiberius also suffers something similar with Drusus and Germanicus, Some people think the images on the Lucius Gaius are in fact Drusus and Germanicus.........
The images look like according to some a young....Augustus.
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Hatty
Site Admin
In: Berkshire
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Aberfeldy came up again, this time in a medieval (glebe) context. A dig in 2015-6 uncovered stone remains belonging to Aberfeldy's Dark Age past
Archaeologists working in the Glebe Field in Aberfeldy have uncovered the remains of an Anglo Saxon building which is one of the largest ever found in Scotland.
The find was part of a community archaeology project (led by Aberlady Conservation & History Society and AOC Archaeology) focusing on Aberlady's Anglo Saxon past. |
There is an element of uncertainty about the site's function though not, apparently, about its date
| volunteers uncovered what appear to be the remains of small cellular buildings, as well as a 20m x 4m stone feature which appears to be part of a larger stone building which extends to 20m x 40m, making it one of the largest Anglo Saxon buildings discovered in Scotland. |
The leading archaeologist reveals the site is a one-off
| Ian Malcolm of Aberlady Conservation & History Society described the finds as 'Very, very exciting'. He told the East Lothian Courier that the site 'may have been monastic, or a feast hall or a royal site. There have been other excavations but no evidence of a structure on this scale has been discovered.' |
One "9th century Anglo-Saxon coin" was found and two bone combs, one of which is dated "6th to 8th century". Undismayed by the paucity of finds, the archaeologists pronounced this a major A-S site
A report on the Aberlady Angles website states that the excavation has revealed 'further evidence of an important and wealthy Anglo Saxon location'.
The latest finds are consistent with the dates of the largest collection of Anglo Saxon coins found in Scotland, which were discovered on the site in the 1980s, as well as the fragment of an Anglo Saxon cross found in the 19th century; adding weight to the theory that this was a significant Anglo Saxon site. |
https://www.historyscotland.com/articles/news/important-anglo-saxon-remains-discovered-in-east-lothian
I was curious about Aberfeldy's earlier coin hoard and tried looking it up but there's no information online. Does it exist, if so what happened to it?
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Wile E. Coyote
In: Arizona
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| Hatty wrote: |
One "9th century Anglo-Saxon coin" was found and two bone combs, one of which is dated "6th to 8th century". Undismayed by the paucity of finds, the archaeologists pronounced this a major A-S site
A report on the Aberlady Angles website states that the excavation has revealed 'further evidence of an important and wealthy Anglo Saxon location'.
The latest finds are consistent with the dates of the largest collection of Anglo Saxon coins found in Scotland, which were discovered on the site in the 1980s, as well as the fragment of an Anglo Saxon cross found in the 19th century; adding weight to the theory that this was a significant Anglo Saxon site. |
https://www.historyscotland.com/articles/news/important-anglo-saxon-remains-discovered-in-east-lothian
I was curious about Aberfeldy's earlier coin hoard and tried looking it up but there's no information online. Does it exist, if so what happened to it? |
I couldn't either, maybe " the largest collection of Anglo Saxon coins found in Scotland, " is bit like England's greatest cabur tosser.....
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Wile E. Coyote
In: Arizona
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Wiley has a decision to take. AD or CE?
The issue is upsetting the feelings of others, by the use of words.
| Kofi Annan wrote: | | [T]he Christian calendar no longer belongs exclusively to Christians. People of all faiths have taken to using it simply as a matter of convenience. There is so much interaction between people of different faiths and cultures – different civilizations, if you like – that some shared way of reckoning time is a necessity. And so the Christian Era has become the Common Era.[6 |
So it's fairly clear that we want to do away with the old ways.....
But hang on.
| wiki wrote: | | Some oppose the Common Era notation for explicitly religious reasons. Because the BC/AD notation is based on the traditional year of the conception or birth of Jesus, some Christians are offended by the removal of the reference to him in era notation.[67] The Southern Baptist Convention supports retaining the BC/AD abbreviations |
We don't want to offend Christians, there are after all quite a lot, and this could impact on sales........Nothing is easy.....
What are the little buggers taught in school.......?
| In 2002, England and Wales introduced the BCE/CE notation system into the official school curriculum.[ |
Ok that's it then
| Also in 2011, media reports suggested that the BC/AD notation in Australian school textbooks would be replaced by BCE/CE notation.[59] The story became national news and drew opposition from some politicians and church leaders. Weeks after the story broke, the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority denied the rumour and stated that the BC/AD notation would remain, with CE and BCE as an optional suggested learning activity. |
Damn
Come on guys, make your mind up. All that Dionysius Exiguus did was replace the Anno Diocletiani with the Anno Domini as he was a bit squeamish about christians being persecuted.....surely not a bad thing.
Anyway as wiki says: | [The anno Diocletiani era was not the only one used by early Christians. Most Roman Christians, like the pagan Romans before them, designated their years by naming the two consuls who held office that year. The Romans also used the ab urbe condita AUC) era. Its name is Latin for "from the founding of the City (Rome)." However, the AUC era was hardly ever used outside historical treatises. |
In fact these were the calendars of the Roman traders that used coins Consuls and Birth of Rome. (maybe)
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Mick Harper
Site Admin
In: London
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You've left out the real reason for the change. By the middle of the twentieth century (A.D.) Americans dominated the academic world. By the middle of the second half of the twentieth century Jews dominated the American academic world. They were irked by the Christianity of such a fundamental matter and started pushing for BCE and CE to replace AD/BC though the BCE/CE formulation is clumsy. It is also incomprehensible. Common to whom?
But liberalism did the rest. I insist on the old ways on the grounds that, OK, it's not ideal but if youse guys want to use our system then we set the ground rules. Do you think we atheists like intoning 'In the year of our lord' any more than you do? But since we are using the Christian system we have no choice.
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Wile E. Coyote
In: Arizona
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Scrolling up.
Romans at some point during the Republic, denoted years by the names of the two Consuls who ruled each year (we don't know the length of "year" but the consensus is that it led to slippage forcing ammendments to the calendar).
Later they began to count the "years" from the foundation of the City of Rome via lists of consuls since the foundation. (in Latin ab urbe condita - from the foundation of the city) There is no single agreed date for that (just as there wasn't/ isn't for the birth date of Jesus) but Roman writer Marcus Terentius Varro fixed the date of the Foundation at what orthodoxy now calls 753BC....... But this is guess work....
1) We don't know when Rome was founded
2) We don't know what the early Republic concept of year was.
3) We don't know if there was a single concept of year
4) It's fairly clear that lists of consuls don't exactly match historical events. (ie as told by the historians). There has been a lot of work to make it match!
5) It's assumed by orthodoxy that the calendar was amended by priests, important patricians for their own ends. These ancient folks also put a lot of effort to line up consuls "years" festivals, auguries, dates of games, and historical events into a dramatic narrative.....since the so-called Foundation....
Apologies nothing new in there.
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Wile E. Coyote
In: Arizona
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| wikiFasti wrote: | | In ancient Rome, the fasti (Latin plural) were chronological or calendar-based lists, or other diachronic records or plans of official and religiously sanctioned events. After Rome's decline, the word fasti continued to be used for similar records in Christian Europe and later Western culture |
| wiki wrote: | | Fasti Magistrales, Annales or Historici, were concerned with the several festivals, and everything relating to religious practice and the gods, and the magistrates; to the emperors, their birthdays, offices, days consecrated to them, with feasts and ceremonies established in their honor or for their prosperity. They came to be denominated magni, "great," by way of distinction from the bare calendar, or fasti diurni ("everyday records"). The word fasti thus came to be used in the general sense of annals or historical records. |
| The word derives from fas, meaning "that which is permitted," that is, "that which is legitimate in the eyes of the gods." Fasti dies were the days on which business might be transacted without impiety, in contrast to dies nefasti, days on which assemblies and courts could not convene. The word fasti itself came to denote lists organized by time. |
"that which is legitimate in the eyes of the gods.">>>>>>"in the year of our Lord Jesus Christ".
| wiki Anno Domini wrote: | | This calendar era is based on the traditionally reckoned year of the conception or birth of Jesus of Nazareth, with AD counting years from the start of this epoch, and BC denoting years before the start of the era. There is no year zero in this scheme, so the year AD 1 immediately follows the year 1 BC. This dating system was devised in 525 by Dionysius Exiguus of Scythia Minor, but was not widely used until after 800. |
SO by 525..... err AD/CE.....Dionysius Exiguus of Scythia Minor, come up with AD 1 and by 800 years ......after the birth of christ......(DE got the birth date wrong according to orthodoxy, and no one has a clue exactly how he, DE, came up with it) ....... 275 years after he came up with it..... it's kicking in.
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Wile E. Coyote
In: Arizona
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The Two calendars in summary....
ab urbe condita (AUC)>>>Birth of Augustus (Divi filius "son of a god")>>>>>>>Dionysius Exiguss revises the "Roman" Calendar
BC>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Birth of Christ>>>>>>>>>AD
According to wiki.....
The Julian calendar, proposed by Julius Caesar in 46 BC (708 AUC), was a reform of the Roman calendar.[1] It took effect on 1 January 45 BC (AUC 709), by edict. It was the predominant calendar in the Roman world, most of Europe, and in European settlements in the Americas and elsewhere, until it was refined and gradually replaced by the Gregorian calendar, promulgated in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII. The Julian calendar gains against the mean tropical year at the rate of one day in 128 years. For the Gregorian calendar, the figure is one day in 3,030 years.[2] The difference in the average length of the year between Julian (365.25 days) and Gregorian (365.2425 days) is 0.002% |
In actual fact the minor reform the move to the Gregorian calendar and the relabeling undertaken by Dionysius Exiguss were of the Augustan calendar, the Julian calendar was flawed. The powers that be on Julius' instruction had added a extra leap day to February every three years instead of every four.....(ortho has it that the priests misunderstood Julius' wishes....hence it remains his calendar)
Augustus (or his advisors) solve this by ordering a halt in the leap years until the Earth has....... caught up with the calendar. Then they institute a leap year every fourth year......
Anyway the Augustan calendar remains unchanged (apart from the tinkering in 1582), to today.
However, Julius gets the credit, along with Dionysius Exigess and Pope Gregory xiii.
This seems a tad unfair on the sun god, sorry son of a god... to Wiley.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_obelisks_in_Rome#/media/File:Vatican_Piazza_San_Pietro_Obelisk_slim.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solarium_Augusti
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Wile E. Coyote
In: Arizona
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Augustus' connection with sun worship is now mainly ignored.
The period of sun worship is now mostly associated with Emperor Elagabalus, sun god = helios......
Things didnt turn out well.
Sun worship was widespread through the empire, and Elagabalus decided he would instill the worship of his god by elevating Elagabal the sun god to the level of Jupiter, which was bad enough......he built a temple to Elagabal on Palatine Hill, had himself circumcised, and then danced around the altar of his god naked in front of the senate. In another somewhat insensitive move he moved sacred relics of the Roman religion to this newly built temple so that all Romans wanting to worship had to worship Elagabal. In short he did not grasp the concept of a multi faith empire.
His personal life was a bit of a mess, Elagabalus married and divorced five women, took male lovers, and offered vast sums of money to any physician who could give him female genitalia.
One cant help thinking that if sun worshippers had better leaders cf Akhenaten that we might all still be attracted to worship the golden disc.
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Wile E. Coyote
In: Arizona
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Here is weblink to a a coin dedicated to Elagabalus
http://phos-alethinon.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/the-black-stone-of-elagabal.html
The reverse features horses pulling a wagon on which there is the sacred black stone from the temple of god Elagabalus in Emesa, modern Homs in Syria. The stone was housed in the Elagabalium built on the east face of the Palatine Hill, where our emperor danced naked....
| Herodian wrote: | "A six horse chariot carried the divinity, the horses huge and flawlessly white, with expensive gold fittings and rich ornaments. No one held the reins, and no one rode in the chariot; the vehicle was escorted as if the god himself were the charioteer. Elagabalus ran backward in front of the chariot, facing the god and holding the horses reins. He made the whole journey in this reverse fashion, looking up into the face of his god."
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Cripes no charioteer.....
You will notice that the historian and numismatic evidence "tie up". But the archaeology the huge black meteorite has gone missing.
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