Recent content by Oannes Rex

Late continuation, but I will chip in some thoughts anyway: If we can get John Lydon aka Johnny Rotten to remain in the band, the odds are actually quite good. Relations between Lydon and Jones have always been all right, at least after things had settled a bit from the breakup. I am unsure...

A bit of a late reply, but his intention was not to kill Stoltenberg, who was only scheduled to arrive the next day. What he is said to have wanted was to kill former PM Gro Harlem Brundtland. A formidable figure in 1980s and early 90s politics, somewhat symbolically - if not politically -...

Not true. Remember, the Beatles were still in their mid-to late twenties at the time. The Rolling Stones did the same a year earlier, resulting in classics like "Jumping Jack Flash" and the "Beggar's Banquet" album and a return to touring, basically setting the formula for the 70's - indeed...

I shiver at the potential result of no NATO campaign. Displacement of thousands of people in Kosovo combined with a hard winter, the potential of a stream of refugees into Macedonia, the war spreading into southern Serbia and Macedonia with the potential of the latter country collapsing.

An interesting question: Will Monica want to marry Bill? After all, he cheated on his first wife with several women over a relatively short period. How will she know he won't eventually cheat on her?

If the war drags on too long I believe it is likely that one allied power will quit the war, doing a separate peace, followed by a general armistice?

Yes, they were living more or less like today. Settled in towns and villages, some doing various menial jobs, many were craftsmen, others begging or being professional musicians. The exception was Romania where they were imported as slaves.

Giysqun: Read my former post. Most gypsies in Europe are settled. And since they generally follow the majority religion, most are Christians with the exception of those descending from the "deep Balkans" (Kosovo, South Serbia, Macedonia, European Turkey) who are partially muslim.

The Ottomans were never particularly interested in making converts, preferring to rule with/through Orthodox/Armenian/Jewish elites, known as the Millet system. At times this also came close to recognizing various nations of the empire. As far as I know, forced mass conversions only happened...

Possible POD Have the musical make a strong comeback over the next ten years. It is IMHO easier for actors to move on to politics for several reasons: Actors tend to have longer careers and broader generation appeal than pop stars who are strongly associated with their peers and ridiculed...

In other words, my first question is: Are there any aspects of Roma/Sinti culture or customs that would make farming difficult and which seem to have been there from the beginning as opposed to caused by centuries of segregation and to some extent self-segregation? Unlike the Jews they have...

Balkans I think the most likely area for a compact gypsy settlement that could form a core for a state would be somewhere in the Balkans including Transylvania and European Turkey, although even this borders on ASB. Pro: The Balkans have always been a hotchpotch of ethnic groups. There is...

Contrary to popular belief, most Roma (gypsies) - ie the East European ones - are settled and have "always" been. Their position in Balkan towns and villages are thus not that unlike the Jews, except that they occupy a far lower social niche, being rag-and-paper pickers, junk traders, beggars...