In which the angelic Shanners sparkles with 'Romanes eunt domus' silliness ...

The pond has discovered that there are lonely, brave trolls, who drop in on the reptiles' twitter account to tug the reptiles' leet Surry Hills hipster beards and then disappear into the night …

The pond hastens to reassure these trolls that the pond pays not a dime for any reptile content on its pages, and now survives by way of scraps of bread that fall from the reptile table …

It could have looked at the "Case of the disappearing burglar", but quaint stories of crime dressed up with an Agatha Christie hook are too silly for the pond when it goes looking for pure essence of looniness.

The magical, sparkling Shanners of Canberra is more to the pond's taste, and how pleasing that the reptiles should graciously consent to her appearing outside the paywall …and on a matter of extreme and dire national importance …

Of course the pond is in deep sympathy with Shanners. After all, the right to consign people to eternal hellfire and damnation is an important one, and in the past, certain religious practices have led to profound insights …

The trouble of course is that the lizard Oz is infested with outrageous secularists of the oscillating fan kind ...

Dammit, oscillating fan, as everyone knows, Shanners is skulking and feeling intimidated, and it's just so unfair that freedom of speech should lead to freedom of speech, or even worse, freedom of sponsorship...

And power to Shanners too, and please allow the pond to return to the main game … as Shanners explains how the likes of the Donald doesn't just talk the faith, he really truly lives the faith … and how Xians are doing it for freedom, justice and truth, certainly for complimentary women, but perhaps not so much for poofters, destined for hellfire as they most certainly are, because god is a vicious god, the She bitch from hell, and she suffers no waywardness … whatever they say about turning the other cheek and being lovey-dovey ...

Okay, can we just stop there for a moment. Let's skip over the talk of the 'taint' when actually all people might be saying - be they Jewish, Islamic, Hindu, Xi-lovers, L. Ron devotees, cultists in Oregon, or just your average secularist or atheist - that there's more to life and mind than judgmental Xianity …

Let's get to the real sticking point.

The pond doesn't mind Xians stealing pagan festivals of the Ēostre or Ostara kind, or taking over the Roman Saturnalia ...

Saturnalia was an ancient Roman festival in honour of the god Saturn, held on 17 December of the Julian calendar and later expanded with festivities through to 23 December. The holiday was celebrated with a sacrifice at the Temple of Saturn, in the Roman Forum, and a public banquet, followed by private gift-giving, continual partying, and a carnival atmosphere that overturned Roman social norms: gambling was permitted, and masters provided table service for their slaves.[1] A common custom was the election of a "King of the Saturnalia", who would give orders to people and preside over the merrymaking. The gifts exchanged were usually gag gifts or small figurines made of wax or pottery known as sigillaria. The poet Catullus called it "the best of days".[2] Saturnalia was the Roman equivalent to the earlier Greek holiday of Kronia, which was celebrated during the Attic month of Hekatombaion in late midsummer. It held theological importance for some Romans, who saw it as a restoration of the ancient Golden Age, when the world was ruled by Saturn. The Neoplatonist philosopher Porphyry interpreted the freedom associated with Saturnalia as symbolizing the "freeing of souls into immortality". Saturnalia may have influenced some of the customs associated with later celebrations in western Europe occurring in midwinter, particularly traditions associated with Christmas, the Feast of the Holy Innocents, and Epiphany. In particular, the historical western European Christmas custom of electing a "Lord of Misrule" may have its roots in Saturnalia celebrations.

Hey, a feast is a feast, and provided there's chocolates of a very dark kind, the pond can go with it …

But "in a legal system based on Judeo-Christian ethical principles …"??

Please, there has to be a limit to shameless filching and taking credit, please, give credit where credit is due … give the Romans a break, at least when they stole ideas from the Greeks, they had a sense of guilt …

Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (c. 449 BC), to the Corpus Juris Civilis (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I. Roman law forms the basic framework for civil law, the most widely used legal system today, and the terms are sometimes used synonymously. The historical importance of Roman law is reflected by the continued use of Latin legal terminology in many legal systems influenced by it, including common law. After the dissolution of the Western Roman Empire, the Roman law remained in effect in the Eastern Roman Empire. From the 7th century onward, the legal language in the East was Greek. Roman law also denoted the legal system applied in most of Western Europe until the end of the 18th century. In Germany, Roman law practice remained in place longer under the Holy Roman Empire (963–1806). Roman law thus served as a basis for legal practice throughout Western continental Europe, as well as in most former colonies of these European nations, including Latin America, and also in Ethiopia. English and Anglo-American common law were influenced also by Roman law, notably in their Latinate legal glossary (for example, stare decisis, culpa in contrahendo, pacta sunt servanda). Eastern Europe was also influenced by the jurisprudence of the Corpus Juris Civilis, especially in countries such as medieval Romania (Wallachia, Moldavia, and some other medieval provinces/historical regions) which created a new system, a mixture of Roman and local law. Also, Eastern European law was influenced by the "Farmer's Law" of the medieval Byzantine legal system. (Greg Hunt more here).

And that, ipso facto, pari passu pro rata, is why the pond frequently gets pissed off by the pig ignorant pig Latin ways of your average wayward Shanners-style Xian wanting to gloss over the Romans and give it all to the Jews and the Xians …

The pond blames it on the education system, and the forgetfulness induced by time and people suffering under the delusion that they have the right to consign people to eternal hellfire and no one else has the right to fire back with a cheerful, 'oh just get fucked, why don't you?'

Oh okay as any fule kno, the pond should have written 'Romani ite domum inquit Shanahan' ..