Re: virus: Re: pagan festivals

zaimoni@ksu.edu
Sat, 23 Nov 1996 10:50:07 -0600 (CST)


On Sat, 16 Nov 1996, Lior Golgher wrote:

> Ken Pantheists wrote:
> The word Michael is derived from the Hebrew word meaning "who is like
> unto god".--quis ut deus-. (bulgate translation)

Vulgate translation.

> -------------
> Who gave you this translation?
> It's wrong anyway, sorry.
> The name Michael literally means "Who's like (the) God?" in Hebrew - A
> rhetorical question used for the praise of God. A similar rhetorical
> question relates to the story of Hannuka, it can be discussed in the
> future Virus Christmas page in case it turns PC.
> Mi = who ; cha = abbreviation of che + ha = like\as + the ; el = God.
> That 'who' isn't used as a relative pronoun as suggested in your
> translation, but rather as an ordinary question word.
> That's a classic case of unintentional distortion caused by recurrent
> translations.

Two levels deep: Hebrew to Greek to Latin [to English...]. Of course,
the direct ones have their own problems, like losing the meaning of
3500-year archaic words.

> As for Alchemy Mindworks, it seems like I've propagated commercial ads
> under the cover of concrete scientific facts. I sincerely beg your
> pardon for it.
>
> Lior

The results of research into science fantasy/historical fiction
*background* are often fairly accurate. And my impression was that I was
looking at fiction coerced to a certain historical mythos, so details had
to be matched fairly carefully to that mythos. I'd accept your original
citations as a secondary source.

I happen to own [and memorize large sections of by overuse] about 8" of
rules for Steve Jackson Games's GURPS [Generic Universal RolePlaying
System]. It is the *only* RPG I own that I can game out realistic
science-fantasy/medieval/etc. settings in.

Blurbs!:
Cyberpunk sourcebook: "The rulebook seized by the U.S. Secret Service!"
I.O.U (Illuminati University) sourcebook: "The only university seized by the
U.S. Secret Service!"

Anyone recall the Oklahoma City terrorist-like bombing: -1 Federal
Building?

Using the GURPS rules, I was able to compute the amount of explosive used
to within 100 pounds--BEFORE it hit the news. [My estimate was lower
than the actual usage.]

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/ Kenneth Boyd
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