You may be sceptical about the chip implant and chalk it up as religious hysteria but it is planned or already in use in America and Europe. The AMA approved a ‘code of ethics’ concerning the use of the chip in 2007. Why would the AMA create ethical standards if there is no plan to implant?
The use of cash in our society and the world is slowly becoming obsolete. The wave of a plastic card, a new tech stick, cell phone or the chip will be all that is necessary to make a purchase or pay a bill.
Clubbers in Europe are considered VIP’s with ‘chip only areas’ within a bar if they have been implanted. Intel, right here in America is developing a chip which will be implanted in the brain that will operate certain devices like the computer. Specific health issues will be targeted by the implant like hypertension and obesity. Passport holders will by-pass long lines at the airport because the chip will allow them to slide right through. Parents thinking they are doing the right thing will chip their children like the family pet.
God said you will not be able to get a job without the chip. Sound silly? Try getting a job, opening a bank account, applying for a credit card, enrolling in college, getting a phone, etc without your social security number.
Matusiak, Hatfield, and Paffhausen: “You don’t need to know about the award at St Tikhon’s… that’s why we didn’t post it. Isn’t SVS doing exciting things?” This is why you can’t believe a thing you see on oca.org… isn’t St Tikhon’s an institution of the OCA? FOR SHAME. Send these imposters no money!
Friends and neighbours, here’s proof positive that John Matusiak is a screaming incompetent and a spineless tool of the Syosset/SVS mafia. Read this:
http://www.oca.org/news/2100
The post above was posted today. Hmm… Matusiak could have posted about the award to St Tikhon’s, he did post the above fluff about SVS, after all. He chose not to. Let that sink in… Mr Matusiak chose not to tell you. That means that Hatfield and Paffhauesen chose not to tell you either.
Here is what someone said recently in the commboxes:
The converts in the US are bullies and don’t let anyone who disagrees with them speak up. Any one who does is not a “real” Christian.
That is an interesting observation. I would take this a step further. Many converts came to us not because they loved Orthodoxy, but because they hated what was happening in their former confessions. In short, they never converted in their hearts and souls, indubitably, this is manifestly true of Hatfield and Paffhausen. Both are obvious Anglicans… both are believers in the branch theory, a belief that has been labelled heretical by the most holy Local Church of Moscow. I should add that all other legitimate Local Churches agree with that condemnation.
Both Hatfield and Paffhausen showed their adherence to the branch theory by their pact with Nashotah House (an institution of the TEC), their invitation to Rowan Williams (although they knew it would be divisive), their adherence to the so-called Manhattan Declaration (as it was ginned up by No Church Radical Proddies), and their support of New Skete (and its “Orthodox Feast of St Francis). Now, we see this. St Tikhon’s receives recognition for its role in Orthodox education by the Greek government (one of my friends knows one of the Greek people involved… he tells me that Mr Veniamin is very much on the up and up (and is a very good human being, to boot)). Matusiak and oca.org don’t tell you a whisper of it.
You know what to do. Don’t send these Anglican poseurs a dime. Send your money to South Canaan, instead. God will bless you for it.
The Bush administration had this special way of throwing words around so that they could justify any action they’d take. If they did something that was just simply wrong, it could be re-defined to be good. If someone else did something that the US did not like, it could be re-defined to have been an unjust thing to do. A couple of examples:
Unlawful combatants. According to the Geneva Conventions, there are certain rights that POW’s always have. And according to any sensible constitution, there are rights that any civilian should have, like the right to a fair trial. In the US as well, these two held true, but having every terrorist through a court would be an awful hassle, so what to do… The answer, of course, was to implement a new category, unlawful combatant, that did not have any rights at all. Anyone who was deemed (note: not judged) an unlawful combatant, could be sent straight to Guantánamo without a fair trial. And, seeing as this was a world-wide War on Terror, even civilians could easily be re-classified as unlawful combatants, since every civilian is potentially a terrorist. How convenient!
And then the US went on to invade Afghanistan and Iraq, re-defining and justifying their actions along the way. But in August 2008, Russia helped the liberation movements of South Ossetia and Abkhasia and this certainly meant trouble. One wouldn’t have anyone else than the US invading countries at will, and especially not Russia! Moreover, after having invaded Afghanistan and Iraq, it would seem kind of hypocritical to scold Russia over their invasion of parts of Georgia. So what to do… The answer, of course, lies in what kind of country has been invaded. It is obvious that Georgia is a sovereign state, as Afghanistan and Iraq consequently was not. I’ve never seen a definition of “sovereign state” that would include Georgia and exclude Afghanistan and Iraq. If the US had just said that invading oppressive military regimes, or better yet; simply “baddies”, is OK, that would have been a lot more honest than these vague definitions that always seem to prop up after the fact.
But that was over a year ago, Bush is gone and the status quo in Georgia, South Ossetia and Abkhasia seems pretty stable, so I wouldn’t expect to accomplish much by ranting over old news. The reason I’m writing this, however, is that the US is ranting over old news. Almost a hundred years old, old news, in fact.
Apparently, The House of Foreign Affairs Committee has passed a resolution calling the killing of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire between 1917 and 1923 a genocide. I have been watching for signs of such re-definitions as the Bush administration was applying, and luckily I haven’t found any before now. I, like a lot of other people, really wanted to believe that Obama was a regular Good Guy, but trying not to be naïve, I have been watching nonetheless. However, it was against the recommendations of the Obama administration that the resolution was passed, so I guess we can continue believing that Obama is a Good Guy. Anyway, back to the resolution.
This resolution, however, is not like the “unlawful combatant” and “sovereign state” definitions. It does not serve to justify some immediate action and it’s seemingly just an acknowledgement of historical fact, which I think is a very important thing. But why now? That’s what I don’t get. Is there some ulterior motive behind it all? Is there some force in the US that wishes to prevent the normalization of Turkey’s and Armenia’s ties? Does the US wish to gain goodwill with Armenia and is this the beginning of a closer relationship between the US and Armenia? Could it be a back-up plan and another way into Iran if something goes wrong with Turkey? And why do I say that?
Well, recently there has been reports of a foiled coup d’état in Turkey. This, perhaps, proves that Turkey is not such a stable country as one would like, being a member of NATO and all. Then, there’s the fact that Turkey has moved politically towards the other Middle East countries, just recently threatening Israel with war if Israeli planes were to cross into Turkish airspace in an attempt to reach Iran. And speaking of Iran, Turkey shares a border with Iran. Very convenient if one needs to enter Iran for whatever reason. Another fact to consider is that 99% of Turkey’s population are Muslims. How many Islamic countries can NATO forces invade before the public in Turkey starts to feel that something is not right? I’m sure these are thoughts have passed the minds of the strategists in the US.
Then there’s Armenia. A seemingly stable apparent democracy without any coup d’états on regular basis and a majority of the population in favor of joining the EU. It has a short borderline to Iran and another to Georgia (meaning passage into Iran from the Black Sea via Georgia and Armenia) and less than 1% are Muslims. It should be a very stable ally indeed, if things were to turn sour with Turkey. And I can easily see that happening.
Having actually bothered about one genocide of Turkey, namely against the Armenians, how would one justify not turning to the next, the one against the Kurds? Perhaps one will not justify it, but just neglect to mention it and pretend there’s nothing more to it.
But then again, this might just be a piece of the big oil pipe game or some hidden economic dynamics which I can’t say I understand too well. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see if this turns out to be something important or not.
The City of Chicago was incorporated on March 4, 1837, and the world has never been the same since. Chicago helped shaped American history. No one in Chicago actually celebrates this birthday, but true Chicagoans are always aware when March 4 comes and goes without any fanfare.
The City of Chicago Seal was adopted officially in June of 1837. I will try my best to explain the symbols in the seal. I will rely on my memory, which isn’t always very accurate. I remember a little from the Chicago History course I had to take in the fourth grade. The Lithuanian nuns at Holy Cross School were just crazy about Chicago History. I’m not sure if there’s even an official explanation of the seal anywhere.
The shield represents the United States of America. The colors of the American flag are represented as are the original thirteen American colonies by the thirteen stripes. The sheaf of wheat represents are abundant agriculture and fertility. The ship represents either Columbus, the Europeans, or the Pilgrims arriving in the New World. The ship is seen and/or greeted by a Native American. In the fourth grade they were called Indians, but we all know that Indians is a misnomer because Columbus never did reach the East Indies as he had planned. Well, Native American isn’t a very good term either. After all, America was named after Amerigo Vespucci who did a better job of selling and publicizing the New World to the Spanish Monarchs.
The baby in the seashell represents a new beginning. I suppose it has echoes of Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus. I remember during Mayor Harold Washington’s reign, some of the African-American alderman wanted to get rid of the white baby because it was racist. The baby might have been legislated of the seal, but then someone projected the cost of removing the white baby into the millions of dollars. And so, the City of Chicago still has a white baby.
At the very bottom is the Chicago motto: Urbs in horto, which means city in the garden. Well, we are a city, but we are no longer in the middle of a garden. And you can thank urban sprawl for that!
Rafael van der Vaart and the rest of the Netherlands will pose a stiff test for Bob Bradley's U.S. squad. (Photo source: Tsutomu Takasu, Creative Commons)
Don’t look now, but it’s only 100 days until the World Cup kicks off, and it appears Bob Bradley has figured out a significant portion of his roster for the tournament. Wednesday’s friendly in Amsterdam against the Netherlands (1:30 p.m. CST, ESPN2/360) marks a last chance for European-based fringe players to state their cases before Bradley announces his 23-man roster ahead of the team’s May send-off series.
Bradley named this 20-man roster for Wednesday’s game:
Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa/England), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton/England), Tim Howard (Everton/England)
Defenders: Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA/M.L.S.), Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes/France), Jay DeMerit (Watford/England), Clarence Goodson (IK Start/Norway), Heath Pearce (FC Dallas/M.L.S.), Frank Simek (Sheffield Wednesday/England), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United/England)
Midfielders: DaMarcus Beasley (Rangers/Scotland), Alejandro Bedoya (Orebro/Sweden), Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönchengladbach/Germany), Landon Donovan (Everton/England), Maurice Edu (Rangers/Scotland), Stuart Holden (Bolton Wanderers/England), José Torres (Pachuca/Mexico)
Forwards: Jozy Altidore (Hull City/England), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake/M.L.S.), Eddie Johnson (Aris Thessaloniki/Greece)
The interesting thing about Bradley’s roster is that it’s largely made up of first choice players, so he’ll have a good opportunity to evaluate the performances of fringe players alongside his regular starters. Don’t be surprised to see every wing back on the roster get playing time. The American struggles on both sides of defense are well documented, so this could be the final chance to settle on a starter, particularly at right back. Bornstein has enjoyed a lot of playing time at the position recently, but after solid performances at last summer’s Confederations Cup, I’d put my money on Spector to claim the starting position. Spector isn’t as fast as Bornstein, but his presence on the ball and delivery into the penalty area is much, much better. Bornstein’s decision making to go forward is better than it used to be, but it’s still too regular a thing to see an opponent’s left midfielder with too much space on the wing on Bornstein’s watch.
In the midfield, a recent ankle injury to Benny Feilhaber has opened the door to claim the last spot up for grabs. Donovan, Clint Dempsey and the younger Bradley will all start for sure this summer, but the elder Bradley must decide whether he wants to employ a creative midfielder, like Feilhaber or Pachuca’s Torres, or hold two midfielders back to allow Dempsey and Donovan greater offensive freedom. I expect Bradley to make the decision based on the situation. For the World Cup opener against England and matches against favored teams, look for him to play his son and one other defensive midfielder; against Slovenia and Algeria, expect an attacking midfielder with a little more backtracking responsibility for Donovan and Dempsey. Against a fast-attacking Dutch side, look for Edu to partner Bradley as defensive midfielders. Edu isn’t 100 percent game fit yet, but he scored the winning goal in stoppage time of the Old Firm Derby this past weekend after coming on as a first half substitute. I expect Edu to get about an hour of game time before Holden or Torres comes on to introduce a little more aggression to the American attack.
With Charlie Davies’ return still in question after his October car crash, Bradley also must figure out where the speed is going to come from up front. Altidore’s starting position is in little jeopardy, especially now that he’s getting regular playing time for Hull City, but he showed during World Cup qualifying and the Confederations Cup that he’s most effective with a downhill runner partnering him at forward. The chemistry between Altidore and Davies was immediate and undeniable, and despite the good prognosis for Davies’ recovery by June, Bradley must face the fact that he might need to replicate that. Findley was unimpressive against Denmark last year and El Salvador last week, so this could be his third strike. Then again, Johnson appeared to have struck out about a year ago, but a recent recovery of his goal-scoring touch in Greece has earned him a return. Johnson broke onto the scene with a hot streak during qualifying for the 2006 World Cup and earned his move overseas with a season-long hot streak for the Kansas City Wizards. There’s no player in the national team pool with the ups and downs of Johnson, but a run of good form could see him sneak onto the roster for South Africa. If neither Findley nor Johnson play well, don’t be surprised to see Donovan move back to forward or Bradley get creative with a 5-4-1 formation.
The final spots up for grabs are those of the back up goalkeepers. Guzan has long been Howard’s deputy, but Hahnemann has pushed hard recently for consideration, and if Wolves stay up in the English Premier League this season, much of it will be due to Hahnemann’s play since he took over the starting goalkeeping job. Guzan has spent most of this season on the bench watching Brad Friedel at Aston Villa, playing mostly cup matches. He was benched for the Carling Cup final on Sunday against Manchester United in favor of the more experienced Friedel.
When the U.S. takes the field Wednesday in Amsterdam, Bradley’s focus will be less on the scoreboard than it will be on seeing how his fringe players fit into a lineup against world-class competition. The Netherlands will be almost full-strength, with several players currently enjoying incredible club form. This will definitely be the best team Bradley’s team faces between now and the World Cup, and based on its current form, it’s even fair to say the U.S. won’t see a team this good until the second round of the World Cup, should the Americans make good on being a favorite to advance from Group C.
What do you think about the question marks in Bradley’s lineup? What position concerns you most? What fringe player do you think could have the greatest impact? What result do you expect
I totally thought I had, so without further ado, here’s the newest member of our family in the US: This is Cooper.
He’s the second out door cat at home. He showed up as a stray in December about a week before we arrived for the holidays. He was so skinny! Well, he’s not anymore. He’s really enjoying life there. He follows Blair (the other outdoor cat) everywhere. Blair is still getting used to his new shadow, treating him like an annoying little brother, but I think he actually likes the attention. If Blair goes off for the day without Cooper, Cooper meows until Blair comes home. It’s sweet.
And just so the others don’t get jealous, here are some newer pics of the other two boys- Blair and my baby Julian.
You’d have to hear it to believe it, but a Canadian sports anchor actually said those words today on The Fan Morning Show regarding the gold medal match between the United States and Canada. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Morning Sports Anchor Jeff Marek once again joined the guys, this time to recap all the action from last night’s gold medal game and the impact it will have on the popularity of the NHL.
The guys were also able to get an inside look at how those who work inside the Penguins organization viewed the outcome of the gold medal game as Penguins VP of Communication Tom McMillan joined the show to weigh in.
Post Gazette writer Paul Zeise checked in to talk some Pitt hoops as the Panthers prepare for their final two regular season games and what they hope to be a long post season run.
Barbara-Marie Drezhlo
