http://tspwiki.com/index.php?title=1557
Here are some one liners...
The World's Superpower Just Ran Out of Money -- Inflation and war spending has caused Spain to run out of money... meaning they can't pay the troops any more so the troops take it out of the hide of the folks around them.
The Geneva Bible is Published -- This is the first study Bible. It comes with notes and commentary. I talk about the virtue of a Bible with commentary.
The Chinese Give the Portuguese the Business -- They make a deal for a colony but the Chinese treat them like crap... for good reason. I also talk about the Chinese word: "kowtow."
The World's Superpower Just Ran Out of Money
King Philip the 2nd of Spain has been left a "house of cards" from his father. The truce with France has fallen apart so the new King needs money to finance yet another war. With gold and silver arriving from the New World by the boatload, inflation is making everything more expensive including the most important expense... troop pay. If they had checking accounts in the 1500s, paychecks would be bouncing like rubber. The greatest nation in the world has just run out of money. The banks of Italy, Germany and the Netherlands are in a panic. There will be a major restructuring of the debt. Spain will run out of money again in 1560, 1569, 1575, and 1596. Spain is spending money like there is no tomorrow... but there really is a tomorrow. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
The Constitution of the United States was written with the assumption that all governments overspend and placed impediments to overspending, but they had no illusion that they could eliminate it. When Hitler is coming over the horizon, you overspend, but the day of economic reckoning does come. Responsible government pays down the debt to reasonable levels as soon as possible, but if our government is in constant emergency mode then our government is picking the pockets of our children and the pockets of our children yet unborn... if they manage to get born. Contraception and abortion blocks the birth of future taxpayers. Illegal immigration solves the economic problem that requires SOMEONE ELSE to be holding the bag when it all comes apart. The Spanish troops got caught holding the bag in 1557 and pillaged the villages around them. The Black Legend of Spain began during this period as the Middle Ages reared its ugly head once again. FYI... Alex Shrugged is a real Hispanic straight from East LA who has no trouble speaking of himself in the third person. He is also an Orthodox Jew but he's been an Hispanic much longer than he's been religious.
The Constitution of the United States was written with the assumption that all governments overspend and placed impediments to overspending, but they had no illusion that they could eliminate it. When Hitler is coming over the horizon, you overspend, but the day of economic reckoning does come. Responsible government pays down the debt to reasonable levels as soon as possible, but if our government is in constant emergency mode then our government is picking the pockets of our children and the pockets of our children yet unborn... if they manage to get born. Contraception and abortion blocks the birth of future taxpayers. Illegal immigration solves the economic problem that requires SOMEONE ELSE to be holding the bag when it all comes apart. The Spanish troops got caught holding the bag in 1557 and pillaged the villages around them. The Black Legend of Spain began during this period as the Middle Ages reared its ugly head once again. FYI... Alex Shrugged is a real Hispanic straight from East LA who has no trouble speaking of himself in the third person. He is also an Orthodox Jew but he's been an Hispanic much longer than he's been religious.
The Geneva Bible is Published
Queen "Bloody Mary" of England has been lopping off the heads of Protestants so Protestant scholars have been making their way across the English Channel and on to Geneva, Switzerland. These Bible scholars (including Bishop Miles Coverdale of "Coverdale Bible" fame) have produced a new English translation of the Bible. The New Testament portion is published this year and the entire Bible will be published by 1560. It will be known as the Geneva Bible and it is unique due to the commentary and maps included. It is the first of the "study Bibles". [6] [7] [8]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
Although I've not read the Geneva Bible myself, I approve of Bibles that come with commentary and cross references. As a teenager I decided to read the Bible straight through. I had a Bible without commentary and thus without guidance. The Bible left me unmoved. As an adult I returned to the Bible, but this time it included commentary. As I read along, I noticed that a commentator would answer some critical question. As a teen it hadn't occurred to me that there was a question to answer. I don't need to be a scholar today because scholars have been pouring over these words for hundreds and hundreds of years and they offer their valuable insights alongside the Bible verses. I don't have to agree with them but I am grateful to them and think for myself.
Although I've not read the Geneva Bible myself, I approve of Bibles that come with commentary and cross references. As a teenager I decided to read the Bible straight through. I had a Bible without commentary and thus without guidance. The Bible left me unmoved. As an adult I returned to the Bible, but this time it included commentary. As I read along, I noticed that a commentator would answer some critical question. As a teen it hadn't occurred to me that there was a question to answer. I don't need to be a scholar today because scholars have been pouring over these words for hundreds and hundreds of years and they offer their valuable insights alongside the Bible verses. I don't have to agree with them but I am grateful to them and think for myself.
The Chinese Give the Portuguese the Business
The Portuguese have worked out a deal with the Chinese to develop a trading colony at Macau. The colonists are paying a tribute of 41.6 pound of silver a year which is over $10,000 at the current $16.15 per ounce. A deal is a deal and this deal will hold together until 1999 when the Portuguese will return the colony to China. It will become a Special Administrative Region (That is, an SAR). Hong Kong will become an SAR in 1997. [9] [10] [11]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
Even though a deal was made, the Chinese treated the Portuguese terribly, but according to the Portuguese, the Portuguese deserved every bit of it. Many of these Portuguese merchants were full of themselves and very rude. To humble them the Chinese required them to "kowtow" (cow-tauw)... which means they had to drop to their knees, and hit their forehead to the ground in an humiliating fashion. By all reports, the Portuguese didn't like doing it at all but they did it because they knew the alternative was death. This Chinese word has made its way into the English language. It means to act in a subservient and scraping fashion before another... usually a superior who gives you money. [12]
Even though a deal was made, the Chinese treated the Portuguese terribly, but according to the Portuguese, the Portuguese deserved every bit of it. Many of these Portuguese merchants were full of themselves and very rude. To humble them the Chinese required them to "kowtow" (cow-tauw)... which means they had to drop to their knees, and hit their forehead to the ground in an humiliating fashion. By all reports, the Portuguese didn't like doing it at all but they did it because they knew the alternative was death. This Chinese word has made its way into the English language. It means to act in a subservient and scraping fashion before another... usually a superior who gives you money. [12]
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