In the modern English-speaking world, the word '****' is often considered highly offensive . Most English-speaking countries censor it on television and radio. A study of the attitudes of the British public found that **** was considered the third most severe profanity and its derivative mother****er second. **** was considered the most severe (Hargrave, 2000). Some have argued that the prolific usage of the word **** has de-vulgarized it, an example of the "dysphemism treadmill". Despite its offensive nature, the word is common in popular usage.
The highly profane term remains a taboo word to many people in English-speaking countries, while others feel the word remains inappropriate in social etiquette when used by a male in the presence of women. The word also carries a sacrilegious connotation to some. Many religious people oppose the use of profane, vulgar, and "curse" words which they see as offensive to a deity. Finally, it is considered highly offensive to utter the word in the presence of children, who thus may be robbed of their "innocence."
Non-English-speaking cultures tend to recognize the word's vulgarity. However, it generally is not censored as frequently in those forums.
Proof of the more relaxed attitude about this English word in non-English countries was very publicly visible on billboards around the downtown of Paris, France in the early 1990s. They featured a woman sticking her tongue out in defiance, along with the slogan "Préservatifs **** le SIDA" ("Condoms **** AIDS").
The Canadian Press now considers the word to be commonplace and has added usage advice to the Canadian Press Caps and Spelling guide.
p/s: that **** is the F*** word.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Sunday, September 14, 2008
THE NULL'S TOP TEN WEIRD THINGS SENT INTO SPACE
10. Golf Clubs
Two golf balls have been hit in space. It probably means that the first contact we have with aliens will be when they arrive a bit narked, asking, "Is this your ball that just smashed my greenhouse window?"
9. Salmonella
It seems as though anyone can get a lift into space these days, even death-causing microbes. However, they didn't seem to like it since Salmonella's little space jaunt made them more potent.
8. Luke Skywalker's Light Sabre
No, were not joking. It's absolutely true - the light sabre that Luke himself used to fight the Dark Side is on its own six million mile trip into space. Even Chewbacca was there to see it off.
7. Sweet Potato
A top piece of stellar research happened when the Chinese blasted veg into the heavens to see how it would taste once back down on Earth. They found that it was pretty much the same.
6. Bird Droppings
It's no wonder that you can never get bird crap off your windscreen despite all that scrubbing. Severe storms and space orbit couldn't shift the stuff, but can it survive the heat of re-entry?
5. Inflatable Space Station
If you thought that space travel might get a bit dull after a while then think again. One company's idea for the future sounds as though there's going to be bouncy astro-castles galore.
4. Scotty's Ashes
When James Doohan died in 2005 there was only one place fitting for the ashes of Star Trek's Scotty to be laid to rest. He'll be boldly going until his cask canna take it any longer.
3. Cosmic Dancer
A sculpture was sent into space to “investigate ... the advantages of integrating art into the living and working environment". Or, if you cut the bull, to investigate how to get famous.
2. Sea Urchins
Animals of all shapes and sizes have made the trip into space including a group of particularly adventurous sea urchins. They'll be so disappointed when the get to the Sea of Tranquility.
1. Anything you want
A Californian company is offering you the chance to send anything you want for a trip into space. Anything you want, that is, as long as it'll fit in a coke can and isn't too heavy. The wife'll have to stay.
LINK
http://www.null-hypothesis.co.uk/article/1315
Two golf balls have been hit in space. It probably means that the first contact we have with aliens will be when they arrive a bit narked, asking, "Is this your ball that just smashed my greenhouse window?"
9. Salmonella
It seems as though anyone can get a lift into space these days, even death-causing microbes. However, they didn't seem to like it since Salmonella's little space jaunt made them more potent.
8. Luke Skywalker's Light Sabre
No, were not joking. It's absolutely true - the light sabre that Luke himself used to fight the Dark Side is on its own six million mile trip into space. Even Chewbacca was there to see it off.
7. Sweet Potato
A top piece of stellar research happened when the Chinese blasted veg into the heavens to see how it would taste once back down on Earth. They found that it was pretty much the same.
6. Bird Droppings
It's no wonder that you can never get bird crap off your windscreen despite all that scrubbing. Severe storms and space orbit couldn't shift the stuff, but can it survive the heat of re-entry?
5. Inflatable Space Station
If you thought that space travel might get a bit dull after a while then think again. One company's idea for the future sounds as though there's going to be bouncy astro-castles galore.
4. Scotty's Ashes
When James Doohan died in 2005 there was only one place fitting for the ashes of Star Trek's Scotty to be laid to rest. He'll be boldly going until his cask canna take it any longer.
3. Cosmic Dancer
A sculpture was sent into space to “investigate ... the advantages of integrating art into the living and working environment". Or, if you cut the bull, to investigate how to get famous.
2. Sea Urchins
Animals of all shapes and sizes have made the trip into space including a group of particularly adventurous sea urchins. They'll be so disappointed when the get to the Sea of Tranquility.
1. Anything you want
A Californian company is offering you the chance to send anything you want for a trip into space. Anything you want, that is, as long as it'll fit in a coke can and isn't too heavy. The wife'll have to stay.
LINK
http://www.null-hypothesis.co.uk/article/1315
full moon and lunar effects
The full moon has been linked to crime, suicide, mental illness, disasters, accidents, birthrates, fertility, and werewolves, among other things. Some people even buy and sell stocks according to phases of the moon, a method probably as successful as many others. Numerous studies have tried to find lunar effects. So far, the studies have failed to establish much of interest. Lunar effects that have been found have little or nothing to do with human behavior, e.g., the discovery of a slight effect of the moon on global temperature,* which in turn might have an effect on the growth of plants. Of course, there have been single studies here and there that have found correlations between various phases of the moon and this or that phenomenon, but nothing significant has been replicated sufficiently to warrant claiming a probable causal relationship.
Full article
http://skepdic.com/fullmoon.html
Full article
http://skepdic.com/fullmoon.html
Oldest Civilization may be in Antarctica
The existence of the civilization in Antarctica started drawing attention of professional historians after the World War II. The hypothesis can be proven by medieval maps and the research of Western paleogeologists and glaciologists.
In January 1820 the lieutenant of the Russian Imperial Fleet Mikhail Lazarev discovered a new continent. At the beginning of the 20th century famous Russian Brockhaus and Efron encyclopedic dictionary contained an article, according to which the continent was insufficiently and that there were no flora and fauna. Besides, the author mentioned the variety of seaweeds and sea animals that inhabited the Antarctic waters.
Full Article
http://www.ufodigest.com/antarctica.html
In January 1820 the lieutenant of the Russian Imperial Fleet Mikhail Lazarev discovered a new continent. At the beginning of the 20th century famous Russian Brockhaus and Efron encyclopedic dictionary contained an article, according to which the continent was insufficiently and that there were no flora and fauna. Besides, the author mentioned the variety of seaweeds and sea animals that inhabited the Antarctic waters.
Full Article
http://www.ufodigest.com/antarctica.html
Friday, September 12, 2008
The youngest mom
Lina Medina (born September 27, 1933) is the youngest confirmed mother in medical history, giving birth at the age of 5 years, 7 months and 21 days.
Born in Peru, Lina was brought to a hospital by her parents at the age of 5 years because of increasing abdominal size. She was originally thought to have had a tumor, but her doctors determined she was in her seventh month of pregnancy. Dr. Gerardo Lozada took her to Lima, Peru, prior to the surgery to have other specialists confirm that Lina was in fact pregnant
links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lina_Medina
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ee0_1221230675&p=1
Born in Peru, Lina was brought to a hospital by her parents at the age of 5 years because of increasing abdominal size. She was originally thought to have had a tumor, but her doctors determined she was in her seventh month of pregnancy. Dr. Gerardo Lozada took her to Lima, Peru, prior to the surgery to have other specialists confirm that Lina was in fact pregnant
links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lina_Medina
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ee0_1221230675&p=1
Nostradamus on LHC
I've decided to post this, because it's not all over yet. They still haven't started to bash the bits together yet. From what I remember it's going to be next month before the actual 'proper stuff' gets going. I think this is the correct place to post this, but if not I apologies in advance. So...
...After reading through Nostradamus' Centuries, a few of the verses jumped out at me regarding the LHC. Although I regard this compilation as 'tongue in cheek', the CT gene that I posses sprung into life. Here are a few possible scenarios for fellow CTers amongst you to get your teeth into. Please remember though, it's all light entertainment!
II-46
Apres grand trouble humain, plus grand s'apreste
Le grand mouteur les siecles renouuele.
Pluie, sang, laict, famine, fer, & peste
Au ciel veu, feu courant longue estincele.
After big human distress, the worst follows,
The big engine renews the centuries,
There will be floods and all sorts of afflictions, (Rain, blood, milk, famine, iron, and plague. (transliteration))
In the sky will be seen, fire running and big sparkle.
The bit about the big engine/motor drew my attention to this one (did they have engines back in the day?). How I see it 'renews the centuries' is exactly what they are trying to do over in Geneva. Going back to the beginning, The Big Bang! Lets hope if it does go wrong though, the bang's not that big!
VIII 28
Les simulachres d'or et d'argent enflez,
Qu'apres le rapt lac au feu furent iettez
Au descouuert estaincts tous & troublez.
Au marbre escripts, perscripts interiettez.
The copies of gold and silver inflated,
which after the theft were thrown into the lake,
at the discovery that all is exhausted and dissipated by the debt.
All scrips and bonds will be wiped out.
Hmmm...now then. Switzerland, banks, western world overrun by debt, LHC, unfortunate accident that wipes out Geneva. Hmmm... It would seem that I am becoming more cynical with each advancing year!
I 47
Du Lac Leman, les sermons fascheront.
Des iours seront reduicts par les sepmaines,
Puis mois, puis an, puis tous deffailliront
Les Magistrats damneront les loix vaines.
The speeches of Lake Leman will become angered,
the days will drag out into weeks,
then months, then years, then all will fail.
The authorities will condemn their useless powers.
Is it all going to be a €5 billion white elephant!
II 76
Foudre en Bourgogne fera cas portenteux,
Que par engin homme ne pourroit faire :
De leur senat sacrifiste fait boyteux,
Fera sçauoir aux ennemis l'affaire,
Lightning in Burgundy will perform a portentous deed,
One which could never have been done by skill,
Sexton made lame by their senate
Will make the affair known to the enemies.
Perhaps they find the 'god particle', The sexton (religious authorities) lose their power now that 'god' is in the scientists' hands. Maybe they also stumble across something which they weren't looking for that could be of portentous importance!
II 91
Soleil leuant vn grand feu on verra,
Bruit & clarté vers Aquilon tendant :
Dedans le rond mort & cris on orra,
Par glaiue, feu, faim mort les attendans.
At sunrise one will see a great fire,
Noise and light extending towards Aquilon:
Within the circle death and one will hear cries,
Through steel, fire, famine, death awaiting them.
It doesn't sound very nice at all really does it!
III 44
Quand l'animal à l'homme domestique
Apres grand peine & sauts viendra parler :
Le foudre à vierge sera si malefique
De terre prinse & suspenduë en l'air.
When the animal domesticated by man
After great pains and leaps will come to speak:
The lightning to the virgin will be very harmful,
Taken from earth and suspended in the air.
I'm going to take the 'animal domesticated by man' as science, and how the last few decades it has really been speaking to us through discoveries and the like. Again, the discoveries made could be harmful to religion. I find the last line particularly intresting, when the work is done at the LHC could they build an even bigger one out in space!
VI 97
Cinq & quarante degrez ciel bruslera,
Feu approcher de la grand cité neuue,
Instant grand flamme esparse sautera,
Quand on voudra des Normans faire preuue,
At forty-five degrees the sky will burn,
Fire to approach the great new city:
In an instant a great scattered flame will leap up,
When one will want to demand proof of the Normans.
Another which seems to indicate some sort of catastrophy. As for the last line...please post your own idea's and you could win an all expenses paid trip to the LHC the day this happens. Please note, Return flights NOT included!
...After reading through Nostradamus' Centuries, a few of the verses jumped out at me regarding the LHC. Although I regard this compilation as 'tongue in cheek', the CT gene that I posses sprung into life. Here are a few possible scenarios for fellow CTers amongst you to get your teeth into. Please remember though, it's all light entertainment!
II-46
Apres grand trouble humain, plus grand s'apreste
Le grand mouteur les siecles renouuele.
Pluie, sang, laict, famine, fer, & peste
Au ciel veu, feu courant longue estincele.
After big human distress, the worst follows,
The big engine renews the centuries,
There will be floods and all sorts of afflictions, (Rain, blood, milk, famine, iron, and plague. (transliteration))
In the sky will be seen, fire running and big sparkle.
The bit about the big engine/motor drew my attention to this one (did they have engines back in the day?). How I see it 'renews the centuries' is exactly what they are trying to do over in Geneva. Going back to the beginning, The Big Bang! Lets hope if it does go wrong though, the bang's not that big!
VIII 28
Les simulachres d'or et d'argent enflez,
Qu'apres le rapt lac au feu furent iettez
Au descouuert estaincts tous & troublez.
Au marbre escripts, perscripts interiettez.
The copies of gold and silver inflated,
which after the theft were thrown into the lake,
at the discovery that all is exhausted and dissipated by the debt.
All scrips and bonds will be wiped out.
Hmmm...now then. Switzerland, banks, western world overrun by debt, LHC, unfortunate accident that wipes out Geneva. Hmmm... It would seem that I am becoming more cynical with each advancing year!
I 47
Du Lac Leman, les sermons fascheront.
Des iours seront reduicts par les sepmaines,
Puis mois, puis an, puis tous deffailliront
Les Magistrats damneront les loix vaines.
The speeches of Lake Leman will become angered,
the days will drag out into weeks,
then months, then years, then all will fail.
The authorities will condemn their useless powers.
Is it all going to be a €5 billion white elephant!
II 76
Foudre en Bourgogne fera cas portenteux,
Que par engin homme ne pourroit faire :
De leur senat sacrifiste fait boyteux,
Fera sçauoir aux ennemis l'affaire,
Lightning in Burgundy will perform a portentous deed,
One which could never have been done by skill,
Sexton made lame by their senate
Will make the affair known to the enemies.
Perhaps they find the 'god particle', The sexton (religious authorities) lose their power now that 'god' is in the scientists' hands. Maybe they also stumble across something which they weren't looking for that could be of portentous importance!
II 91
Soleil leuant vn grand feu on verra,
Bruit & clarté vers Aquilon tendant :
Dedans le rond mort & cris on orra,
Par glaiue, feu, faim mort les attendans.
At sunrise one will see a great fire,
Noise and light extending towards Aquilon:
Within the circle death and one will hear cries,
Through steel, fire, famine, death awaiting them.
It doesn't sound very nice at all really does it!
III 44
Quand l'animal à l'homme domestique
Apres grand peine & sauts viendra parler :
Le foudre à vierge sera si malefique
De terre prinse & suspenduë en l'air.
When the animal domesticated by man
After great pains and leaps will come to speak:
The lightning to the virgin will be very harmful,
Taken from earth and suspended in the air.
I'm going to take the 'animal domesticated by man' as science, and how the last few decades it has really been speaking to us through discoveries and the like. Again, the discoveries made could be harmful to religion. I find the last line particularly intresting, when the work is done at the LHC could they build an even bigger one out in space!
VI 97
Cinq & quarante degrez ciel bruslera,
Feu approcher de la grand cité neuue,
Instant grand flamme esparse sautera,
Quand on voudra des Normans faire preuue,
At forty-five degrees the sky will burn,
Fire to approach the great new city:
In an instant a great scattered flame will leap up,
When one will want to demand proof of the Normans.
Another which seems to indicate some sort of catastrophy. As for the last line...please post your own idea's and you could win an all expenses paid trip to the LHC the day this happens. Please note, Return flights NOT included!
14th october (part2)
link -----> http://www.geocities.com/changetheworld_now/Changetheworld1.htm
another -----> http://www.netscientia.com/orgins.html
Whoever transmitted this translated message to you is irrelevant, and should remain anonymous in your mind. It is what you will do with this message which matters !
Each one of you wishes to exercise her/his free will and experience happiness.
These are attributes that were shown to us and to which we now have access. Your free will depends upon the knowledge you have of your own power. Your happiness depends upon the love that you give and receive.
Like all conscious races at this stage of progress, you may feel isolated on your planet. This impression makes you sure of your destiny. Yet, you are at the brink of big upheavals that only a minority is aware of.
It is not our responsibility to modify your future without you choosing it. Consider this message as a worldwide referendum! And your answer as a ballot!
Who are we ?
Neither your scientists nor your religious representatives speak unanimously about the unexplained celestial events that mankind has witnessed for thousands of years. To know the truth, one must face it without the filter of one's beliefs, however respectable they may be.
A growing number of anonymous researchers of yours are exploring new knowledge paths and are getting very close to reality. Today, your civilisation is flooded with an ocean of information of which only a tiny part, the less upsetting one, is notably diffused.
What in your history seemed ridiculous or improbable has often become possible, then realised, in particular in the last fifty years. Be aware that the future will be even more surprising. You will discover the worst as well as the best.
Like billions others in this galaxy, we are conscious creatures that some name "extra-terrestrials", even though reality is subtler.
There is no fundamental difference between you and us, save for the experience of certain stages of evolution. Like in any other organised structure, hierarchy exists in our internal relationships. Ours is based upon the wisdom of several races. It is with the approval of this hierarchy that we turn to you.
Like most of you, we are in the quest of the Supreme Being. Therefore we are not gods or lesser gods but virtually your equals in the Cosmic Brotherhood.
Physically, we are somewhat different from you but for most of us humanoid-shaped.
Our existence is a reality but the majority of you does not perceive it yet. We are not mere observations, we are consciences just like you. You fail to apprehend us because we remain invisible to your senses and measure instruments most of the time.
We wish to fill this void at this moment in your history. We made this collective decision but this is not enough. We need yours. Through this message, you become the decision-makers ! You personally.
We have no human representative on Earth who could guide your decision.
Why aren't we visible ?
At certain stages of evolution, cosmic "humanities” discover new forms of science beyond the apparent control of matter. Structured dematerialisation and materialisation are part of them. This is what your humanity has reached in a few laboratories, in close collaboration with other "extra-terrestrial" creatures at the cost of hazardous compromises that remain purposedly hidden from you by some of your representatives.
Apart from the aerial or spatial objects or phenomena known about by your scientific community, that you call 'UFOs, there are essentially multidimensional manufactured spaceships that apply these capacities.
Many human beings have been in visual, auditory, tactile or psychic contact with such ships, some of which are under occult powers that "govern" you. The scarcity of your observations is due to the outstanding advantages provided by the dematerialised state of these ships.
By not witnessing them by yourself, you cannot believe in their existence. We fully understand this.
The majority of these observations are made on an individual basis so as to touch the soul and not to modify any organised system. This is deliberate from the races that surround you but for very different reasons and results.
For negative multidimensional beings that play a part in the exercise of power in the shadow of human oligarchy, discretion is motivated by their will to keep their existence and seizure unknown.
For us, discretion is motivated by the respect of the human free will that people can exercise to manage their own affairs so that they can reach technical and spiritual maturity on their own. Humankind's entrance into the family of galactic civilisations is greatly expected.
We can appear in broad daylight and help you attain this union. We haven't done it so far, as too few of you have genuinely desired it, because of ignorance, indifference or fear, and because the emergency of the situation did not justify it. Many of those who study our appearances count the lights in the night without lighting the way. Often they think in terms of objects when it is all about conscious beings.
Who are you ?
You are the offspring of many traditions that throughout time have been mutually enriched by each others' contributions. The same applies to the races at the surface of the Earth. Your goal is to unite in the respect of these roots to accomplish a common project. The appearance of your cultures seems to keep you separated because you substitute it to your deeper being. Shape is now more important than the essence of your subtle nature. For the powers in place, this prevalence of the shape constitutes the ramparts against any form of jeopardy.
You are being called on to overcome shape while still respecting it for its richness and beauty. Understanding the conscience of shape makes us love men in their diversity. Peace does not mean not making war, it consists in becoming what you are in reality: a same Fraternity.
To understand this, the number of solutions within your reach are decreasing. One of them consists in contact with another race that would reflect the image of what you are in reality.
What is your situation ?
Except for rare occasions, our interventions always had very little incidence on your capacity to make collective and individual decisions about your own future. This is motivated by our knowledge of your deep psychological mechanisms.
We reached the conclusion that freedom is built every day as a being becomes aware of himself and of his environment, getting progressively rid of constraints and inertias, whatever they may be. Despite the numerous, brave and willing human consciences, those inertias are artificially maintained for the profit of a growing centralising power.
Until recently, mankind lived a satisfying control of its decisions. But it is losing more and more the control of its own fate because of the growing use of advanced technologies, which lethal consequences on the earthly and human ecosystems become irreversible. You are slowly but surely losing your extraordinary capacity to make life desirable. Your resilience will artificially decrease, independently of your own will. Such technologies exist that affect your body as well as your mind. Such plans are on their way.
This can change as long as you keep this creative power in you, even if it cohabits with the dark intentions of your potential lords. This is the reason why we remain invisible. This individual power is doomed to vanish should a collective reaction of great magnitude not happen. The period to come is that of rupture, whichever it may be.
But should you wait for the last moment to find solutions ? Should you anticipate or undergo pain ?
Your history has never ceased to be marked by encounters between peoples who had to discover one another in conditions that were often conflictual. Conquests almost always happened to the detriment of others. Earth has now become a village where everyone knows everyone else but still conflicts persist and threats of all kinds get worse in duration and intensity.
Although a Human being as an individual, yet having many potential capacities, cannot exercise them with dignity. This is the case for the biggest majority of you for reasons that are essentially geopolitical.
There are several billion of you. The education of your children and your living conditions, as well as the conditions of numerous animals and much plant life are nevertheless under the thumb of a small number of your political, financial, military and religious representatives.
Your thoughts and beliefs are modelled after partisan interests to turn you into slaves while at the same time giving you the feeling that you are in total control of your destiny, which in essence is the reality.
But there is a long way between a wish and a fact when the true rules of the game at hand are unknown. This time, you are not the conqueror. Biasing information is a millenary strategy for human beings. Inducting thoughts, emotions or organisms that do not belong to you via ad hoc technologies is an even older a strategy.
Wonderful opportunities of progress stand close to big subdual and destruction threats. These dangers and opportunities exist now. However, you can only perceive what is being shown to you. The end of natural resources is programmed whereas no long-term collective project has been launched.
Ecosystem exhaustion mechanisms have exceeded irreversible limits. The scarcity of resources and their unfair distribution - resources which entry price will rise day after day - will bring about fratricide fights at a large scale, but also at the very heart of your cities and countrysides.
Hatred grows bigger but so does love. That is what keeps you confident in your ability to find solutions. But the critical mass is insufficient and a sabotage work is cleverly being carried out.
Human behaviours, formed from past habits and trainings, have such an inertia that this perspective leads you to a dead end. You entrust these problems to representatives, whose conscience of common well-being slowly fades away in front of corporatist interests, with those difficulties. They are always debating on the form but rarely on the content.
Just at the moment of action, delays will accumulate to the point when you have to submit rather than choose. This is the reason why, more than ever in your history, your decisions of today will directly and significantly impact your survival of tomorrow.
What event could radically modify this inertia that is typical of any civilisation ? Where will a collective and unifying awareness come from, that will stop this blind rushing ahead ?
Tribes, populations and human nations have always encountered and interacted with one another. Faced with the threats weighing upon the human family, it is perhaps time that a greater interaction occurred.
A great roller wave is on the verge of emerging. It mixes very positive but also very negative aspects.
Who are the "third party" ?
There are two ways to establish a cosmic contact with another civilisation: via its standing representatives or directly with individuals without distinction. The first way entails fights of interests, the second way brings awareness.
The first way was chosen by a group of races motivated by keeping mankind in slavery, thereby controlling Earth resources, the gene pool and human emotional energy.
The second way was chosen by a group of races allied with the cause of the Spirit of service. We have, at our end, subscribed to this disinterested cause and introduced ourselves a few years ago to representatives of the human power who refused our outstretched hand on the pretext of incompatible interests with their strategic vision.
That is why today individuals are to make this choice by themselves without any representative interfering. What we proposed in the past to those whom we believed were in a capacity to contribute to your happiness, we propose it now to ... you!
Most of you ignore that non-human creatures took part in the exercise of those centralising powers without them being neither suspected nor accessible to your senses. This is so true that they have almost very subtly taken control. They do not necessarily stand on your material plan, and that is precisely what could make them extremely efficient and frightening in the near future. However, be aware that a large number of your representatives are fighting this danger ! Be aware that not all abductions are made against you. It is difficult to recognize the truth !
How could you under such conditions exercise your free will when it is so much manipulated ? What are you really free of ?
Peace and reunification of your peoples would be a first step toward the harmony with civilisations other than yours.
That is precisely what those who manipulate you behind the scenes want to avoid at all cost because, by dividing, they reign! They also reign over those who govern you. Their strength comes from their capacity to distillate mistrust and fear into you. This considerably harms your very cosmic nature.
another -----> http://www.netscientia.com/orgins.html
Whoever transmitted this translated message to you is irrelevant, and should remain anonymous in your mind. It is what you will do with this message which matters !
Each one of you wishes to exercise her/his free will and experience happiness.
These are attributes that were shown to us and to which we now have access. Your free will depends upon the knowledge you have of your own power. Your happiness depends upon the love that you give and receive.
Like all conscious races at this stage of progress, you may feel isolated on your planet. This impression makes you sure of your destiny. Yet, you are at the brink of big upheavals that only a minority is aware of.
It is not our responsibility to modify your future without you choosing it. Consider this message as a worldwide referendum! And your answer as a ballot!
Who are we ?
Neither your scientists nor your religious representatives speak unanimously about the unexplained celestial events that mankind has witnessed for thousands of years. To know the truth, one must face it without the filter of one's beliefs, however respectable they may be.
A growing number of anonymous researchers of yours are exploring new knowledge paths and are getting very close to reality. Today, your civilisation is flooded with an ocean of information of which only a tiny part, the less upsetting one, is notably diffused.
What in your history seemed ridiculous or improbable has often become possible, then realised, in particular in the last fifty years. Be aware that the future will be even more surprising. You will discover the worst as well as the best.
Like billions others in this galaxy, we are conscious creatures that some name "extra-terrestrials", even though reality is subtler.
There is no fundamental difference between you and us, save for the experience of certain stages of evolution. Like in any other organised structure, hierarchy exists in our internal relationships. Ours is based upon the wisdom of several races. It is with the approval of this hierarchy that we turn to you.
Like most of you, we are in the quest of the Supreme Being. Therefore we are not gods or lesser gods but virtually your equals in the Cosmic Brotherhood.
Physically, we are somewhat different from you but for most of us humanoid-shaped.
Our existence is a reality but the majority of you does not perceive it yet. We are not mere observations, we are consciences just like you. You fail to apprehend us because we remain invisible to your senses and measure instruments most of the time.
We wish to fill this void at this moment in your history. We made this collective decision but this is not enough. We need yours. Through this message, you become the decision-makers ! You personally.
We have no human representative on Earth who could guide your decision.
Why aren't we visible ?
At certain stages of evolution, cosmic "humanities” discover new forms of science beyond the apparent control of matter. Structured dematerialisation and materialisation are part of them. This is what your humanity has reached in a few laboratories, in close collaboration with other "extra-terrestrial" creatures at the cost of hazardous compromises that remain purposedly hidden from you by some of your representatives.
Apart from the aerial or spatial objects or phenomena known about by your scientific community, that you call 'UFOs, there are essentially multidimensional manufactured spaceships that apply these capacities.
Many human beings have been in visual, auditory, tactile or psychic contact with such ships, some of which are under occult powers that "govern" you. The scarcity of your observations is due to the outstanding advantages provided by the dematerialised state of these ships.
By not witnessing them by yourself, you cannot believe in their existence. We fully understand this.
The majority of these observations are made on an individual basis so as to touch the soul and not to modify any organised system. This is deliberate from the races that surround you but for very different reasons and results.
For negative multidimensional beings that play a part in the exercise of power in the shadow of human oligarchy, discretion is motivated by their will to keep their existence and seizure unknown.
For us, discretion is motivated by the respect of the human free will that people can exercise to manage their own affairs so that they can reach technical and spiritual maturity on their own. Humankind's entrance into the family of galactic civilisations is greatly expected.
We can appear in broad daylight and help you attain this union. We haven't done it so far, as too few of you have genuinely desired it, because of ignorance, indifference or fear, and because the emergency of the situation did not justify it. Many of those who study our appearances count the lights in the night without lighting the way. Often they think in terms of objects when it is all about conscious beings.
Who are you ?
You are the offspring of many traditions that throughout time have been mutually enriched by each others' contributions. The same applies to the races at the surface of the Earth. Your goal is to unite in the respect of these roots to accomplish a common project. The appearance of your cultures seems to keep you separated because you substitute it to your deeper being. Shape is now more important than the essence of your subtle nature. For the powers in place, this prevalence of the shape constitutes the ramparts against any form of jeopardy.
You are being called on to overcome shape while still respecting it for its richness and beauty. Understanding the conscience of shape makes us love men in their diversity. Peace does not mean not making war, it consists in becoming what you are in reality: a same Fraternity.
To understand this, the number of solutions within your reach are decreasing. One of them consists in contact with another race that would reflect the image of what you are in reality.
What is your situation ?
Except for rare occasions, our interventions always had very little incidence on your capacity to make collective and individual decisions about your own future. This is motivated by our knowledge of your deep psychological mechanisms.
We reached the conclusion that freedom is built every day as a being becomes aware of himself and of his environment, getting progressively rid of constraints and inertias, whatever they may be. Despite the numerous, brave and willing human consciences, those inertias are artificially maintained for the profit of a growing centralising power.
Until recently, mankind lived a satisfying control of its decisions. But it is losing more and more the control of its own fate because of the growing use of advanced technologies, which lethal consequences on the earthly and human ecosystems become irreversible. You are slowly but surely losing your extraordinary capacity to make life desirable. Your resilience will artificially decrease, independently of your own will. Such technologies exist that affect your body as well as your mind. Such plans are on their way.
This can change as long as you keep this creative power in you, even if it cohabits with the dark intentions of your potential lords. This is the reason why we remain invisible. This individual power is doomed to vanish should a collective reaction of great magnitude not happen. The period to come is that of rupture, whichever it may be.
But should you wait for the last moment to find solutions ? Should you anticipate or undergo pain ?
Your history has never ceased to be marked by encounters between peoples who had to discover one another in conditions that were often conflictual. Conquests almost always happened to the detriment of others. Earth has now become a village where everyone knows everyone else but still conflicts persist and threats of all kinds get worse in duration and intensity.
Although a Human being as an individual, yet having many potential capacities, cannot exercise them with dignity. This is the case for the biggest majority of you for reasons that are essentially geopolitical.
There are several billion of you. The education of your children and your living conditions, as well as the conditions of numerous animals and much plant life are nevertheless under the thumb of a small number of your political, financial, military and religious representatives.
Your thoughts and beliefs are modelled after partisan interests to turn you into slaves while at the same time giving you the feeling that you are in total control of your destiny, which in essence is the reality.
But there is a long way between a wish and a fact when the true rules of the game at hand are unknown. This time, you are not the conqueror. Biasing information is a millenary strategy for human beings. Inducting thoughts, emotions or organisms that do not belong to you via ad hoc technologies is an even older a strategy.
Wonderful opportunities of progress stand close to big subdual and destruction threats. These dangers and opportunities exist now. However, you can only perceive what is being shown to you. The end of natural resources is programmed whereas no long-term collective project has been launched.
Ecosystem exhaustion mechanisms have exceeded irreversible limits. The scarcity of resources and their unfair distribution - resources which entry price will rise day after day - will bring about fratricide fights at a large scale, but also at the very heart of your cities and countrysides.
Hatred grows bigger but so does love. That is what keeps you confident in your ability to find solutions. But the critical mass is insufficient and a sabotage work is cleverly being carried out.
Human behaviours, formed from past habits and trainings, have such an inertia that this perspective leads you to a dead end. You entrust these problems to representatives, whose conscience of common well-being slowly fades away in front of corporatist interests, with those difficulties. They are always debating on the form but rarely on the content.
Just at the moment of action, delays will accumulate to the point when you have to submit rather than choose. This is the reason why, more than ever in your history, your decisions of today will directly and significantly impact your survival of tomorrow.
What event could radically modify this inertia that is typical of any civilisation ? Where will a collective and unifying awareness come from, that will stop this blind rushing ahead ?
Tribes, populations and human nations have always encountered and interacted with one another. Faced with the threats weighing upon the human family, it is perhaps time that a greater interaction occurred.
A great roller wave is on the verge of emerging. It mixes very positive but also very negative aspects.
Who are the "third party" ?
There are two ways to establish a cosmic contact with another civilisation: via its standing representatives or directly with individuals without distinction. The first way entails fights of interests, the second way brings awareness.
The first way was chosen by a group of races motivated by keeping mankind in slavery, thereby controlling Earth resources, the gene pool and human emotional energy.
The second way was chosen by a group of races allied with the cause of the Spirit of service. We have, at our end, subscribed to this disinterested cause and introduced ourselves a few years ago to representatives of the human power who refused our outstretched hand on the pretext of incompatible interests with their strategic vision.
That is why today individuals are to make this choice by themselves without any representative interfering. What we proposed in the past to those whom we believed were in a capacity to contribute to your happiness, we propose it now to ... you!
Most of you ignore that non-human creatures took part in the exercise of those centralising powers without them being neither suspected nor accessible to your senses. This is so true that they have almost very subtly taken control. They do not necessarily stand on your material plan, and that is precisely what could make them extremely efficient and frightening in the near future. However, be aware that a large number of your representatives are fighting this danger ! Be aware that not all abductions are made against you. It is difficult to recognize the truth !
How could you under such conditions exercise your free will when it is so much manipulated ? What are you really free of ?
Peace and reunification of your peoples would be a first step toward the harmony with civilisations other than yours.
That is precisely what those who manipulate you behind the scenes want to avoid at all cost because, by dividing, they reign! They also reign over those who govern you. Their strength comes from their capacity to distillate mistrust and fear into you. This considerably harms your very cosmic nature.
14th october (part1)
Like wildfires in the Australian outback, rumors of an upcoming mass televised UFO sighting over American skies are taking the Internet by storm. Blossom Goodchild, an Aussie actress and author, has the international Ufology community on its ear with channeled information concerning the eminent appearance of a massive extraterrestrial spacecraft for October 14th, 2008. Calling themselves ‘The Federation of Light’, these Beings from another world have stated to Goodchild that they intend not only to make themselves known, but also to remain more or less in place for a full 72 hour period, thereby providing the media with ample opportunity to once and for all capture on film evidence that will silence the skeptics and debunkers forever. The predicted rendezvous point? Alabama.
And here's the kicker; she isn't the only one making the prediction. Unbeknownst perhaps even to themselves, statements made by other individuals in the past corroborate her findings, one of these being immortalized on paper by Dannion Brinkley. In his latest book (entitled “Secrets of the Light” and published in 2004) on page 222 Brinkley says:
“By the year 2008, the fact that we are not alone in the universe will be made undeniably clear to everyone on the planet. With millions of planets and billions of stars, I cannot fathom how we could ever thought in any other terms. However, for those who have doubted, the extraterrestrials will make themselves known. I believe they feel they have no choice but to show themselves as we verge on self-annihilation, genocide and toxic poisoning. The truth of our inter-galactic lineage will become common knowledge. If I am to believe the vision, the truth of our intergalactic lineage will cause humanity to take one wild ride.”
A few things stand out in all this. For one, it is rather unusual for channels and mediums to give exact dates and places for events to occur - let alone the appearance of an alien spacecraft. Some leeway and margin of error is usually provided to allow for interpretation (and for people with less than honorable intentions, room to squiggle out from). Not in this case. Goodchild is adamant and steadfast on the date.
Another point to keep in mind is that from reading the materials on her web site (blossomgoodchild.com), Goodchild herself seems at odds with the information - almost as if she thinks herself unfit for the task of bringing this information to the world. This again, is quite unusual for channels and mediums. If anything, such people rarely exhibit doubt or disbelief in their own predictions.
Naysayers will immediately dismiss Goodchild’s statements as ludicrous. However, if Goodchild was consciously perpetrating a hoax and simply wanted to make money with all this (after all, she is an author and actress), she is definitely going about it in the wrong manner. Any skilled marketing representative would tell her to do two things:
1) Be less specific of the date on which the craft is supposed to appear (actually, they would most likely tell her to put it off by at least nine months)
2) Flood the market with products and services (books, videos, seminar appearances and lectures, etc) so the money can start pouring in. She's done neither.
Actually, her prediction was made on August 22nd of this year, with “showtime” being less than three months away - far too soon a timeline for the reaping of financial rewards or fame.
Speaking of which...
There is also the inevitable credibility factor to consider. If Goodchild proves to be wrong with this information, it is obvious that whoever enjoyed reading her materials before will begin to shun and avoid her in the future (much like our beloved and elusive Bigfoot hunters from Georgia). So on a personal level, quite a bit is at stake for Goodchild. And she would know this.
To stir the waters even further, consider that the Canadian Prime Minister Mr. Stephen Harper in the last week has called for surprise federal elections to occur on (you guessed it) … October 14th, 2008. According to Mr. Alfred Webre from Exopolitics.com, world officials are taking the announcement of the arrival of an extraterrestrial spacecraft in our skies seriously, and plans may already be underway to pull public focus away from such a seminal event and place it on more domestic and political issues instead. In this case, the controversy generated by surprise federal elections would tie up Canadian airwaves quite nicely. If extraterrestrials wish for their presence to be known to the world on that day, they would need to account for this type of potential interference, along with one million other variables.
Of course, being highly evolved Beings, they (hopefully) would.
In any case, the heat on the forums is palpable. YouTube videos on Goodchild’s predictions are everywhere. And as one forum member on Unexplained_Mysteries remarked, the date itself is unique because October 14th 2008 translates to 10-14-2008, which becomes (if you subtract each number from the next) …minus 2012. Coincidence? Perhaps.
Even if Blossom turns out to be wrong and nothing occurs on or around October 14th this year, it is clear by humanity's current state of affairs that something of this nature needs to occur anyhow - and sooner rather than later. Full on contact and (to a degree) interference within human affairs cannot occur prior to a series of events such as these that will undeniably make the entire world acknowledge once and for all that Extraterrestrials are real. Whomever is watching over us needs to make themselves known, and any medium is viable, whether they are electronic, or human.
I say Bring it on, Baby!
And here's the kicker; she isn't the only one making the prediction. Unbeknownst perhaps even to themselves, statements made by other individuals in the past corroborate her findings, one of these being immortalized on paper by Dannion Brinkley. In his latest book (entitled “Secrets of the Light” and published in 2004) on page 222 Brinkley says:
“By the year 2008, the fact that we are not alone in the universe will be made undeniably clear to everyone on the planet. With millions of planets and billions of stars, I cannot fathom how we could ever thought in any other terms. However, for those who have doubted, the extraterrestrials will make themselves known. I believe they feel they have no choice but to show themselves as we verge on self-annihilation, genocide and toxic poisoning. The truth of our inter-galactic lineage will become common knowledge. If I am to believe the vision, the truth of our intergalactic lineage will cause humanity to take one wild ride.”
A few things stand out in all this. For one, it is rather unusual for channels and mediums to give exact dates and places for events to occur - let alone the appearance of an alien spacecraft. Some leeway and margin of error is usually provided to allow for interpretation (and for people with less than honorable intentions, room to squiggle out from). Not in this case. Goodchild is adamant and steadfast on the date.
Another point to keep in mind is that from reading the materials on her web site (blossomgoodchild.com), Goodchild herself seems at odds with the information - almost as if she thinks herself unfit for the task of bringing this information to the world. This again, is quite unusual for channels and mediums. If anything, such people rarely exhibit doubt or disbelief in their own predictions.
Naysayers will immediately dismiss Goodchild’s statements as ludicrous. However, if Goodchild was consciously perpetrating a hoax and simply wanted to make money with all this (after all, she is an author and actress), she is definitely going about it in the wrong manner. Any skilled marketing representative would tell her to do two things:
1) Be less specific of the date on which the craft is supposed to appear (actually, they would most likely tell her to put it off by at least nine months)
2) Flood the market with products and services (books, videos, seminar appearances and lectures, etc) so the money can start pouring in. She's done neither.
Actually, her prediction was made on August 22nd of this year, with “showtime” being less than three months away - far too soon a timeline for the reaping of financial rewards or fame.
Speaking of which...
There is also the inevitable credibility factor to consider. If Goodchild proves to be wrong with this information, it is obvious that whoever enjoyed reading her materials before will begin to shun and avoid her in the future (much like our beloved and elusive Bigfoot hunters from Georgia). So on a personal level, quite a bit is at stake for Goodchild. And she would know this.
To stir the waters even further, consider that the Canadian Prime Minister Mr. Stephen Harper in the last week has called for surprise federal elections to occur on (you guessed it) … October 14th, 2008. According to Mr. Alfred Webre from Exopolitics.com, world officials are taking the announcement of the arrival of an extraterrestrial spacecraft in our skies seriously, and plans may already be underway to pull public focus away from such a seminal event and place it on more domestic and political issues instead. In this case, the controversy generated by surprise federal elections would tie up Canadian airwaves quite nicely. If extraterrestrials wish for their presence to be known to the world on that day, they would need to account for this type of potential interference, along with one million other variables.
Of course, being highly evolved Beings, they (hopefully) would.
In any case, the heat on the forums is palpable. YouTube videos on Goodchild’s predictions are everywhere. And as one forum member on Unexplained_Mysteries remarked, the date itself is unique because October 14th 2008 translates to 10-14-2008, which becomes (if you subtract each number from the next) …minus 2012. Coincidence? Perhaps.
Even if Blossom turns out to be wrong and nothing occurs on or around October 14th this year, it is clear by humanity's current state of affairs that something of this nature needs to occur anyhow - and sooner rather than later. Full on contact and (to a degree) interference within human affairs cannot occur prior to a series of events such as these that will undeniably make the entire world acknowledge once and for all that Extraterrestrials are real. Whomever is watching over us needs to make themselves known, and any medium is viable, whether they are electronic, or human.
I say Bring it on, Baby!
Bermuda Triangle
Bermuda-Triangle.Org is the web site of Gian J. Quasar. It originally began in 1999 as his massive database on the Bermuda Triangle until the publication of his book, Into the Bermuda Triangle. Now it is also the personal website of the author, not only containing the Bermuda Triangle database but keeping everyone updated on his several other books, events and projects. Gian’s work has been the basis of over a dozen major documentaries and has helped inspire a Congressional Resolution.
The link
http://www.bermuda-triangle.org/
The link
http://www.bermuda-triangle.org/
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
D.A.R.P.A. IS FUNDING AN IMPLANTABLE CHIP FAR MORE ADVANCED THAN"DIGITAL ANGEL"! M.M.E.A. - MULTIPLE MICRO ELECTRODE ARRAY IS SO ADVANCED IT CAN FULFI
We explain the actual science of MMEA in this article so you can see how all humans on earth can be completely controlled by this implantable chip! Emotions - fear, euphoria, depression -- plus pleasure and pain, can be controlled and even caused, by R.F. (Radio-Frequency signal)! Silent, large funding is occurring that soon will be ready for "The Christ" to use once he arises. RFID is just the "tip of the iceberg".[For full details of D.A.R.P.A.,
link
GO
link
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Proof that Christianity's a false religion
Christian's clam that Jesus is the messiah and their savior and god but take this into consideration:
1) Isaiah 45 and Zafanai 3 shows that when the messiah arrives the world will unite under pure monotheism! No time in Jesus's life time did this happen.
Also, Christianity teaches that there are three gods (The Holy Spirit, God, and Jesus) that are one. Does that sound like pure monotheism to you?
2) Jesus said "Think not that I have come to abolish the law(Torah) and the prophets, I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them. " - Matthew 5
* The Sabbath on SATURDAY is suppose to be an ETERNAL covenant but Christians do not follow that.
* Nor do ALL follow Circumcision which is also an ETERNAL covenant
*Nor do they celebrate Rosh Hashana or Yom Kippur
*Christmas or Easter was never mentioned in the OLD or NEW Testament, and these holidays have some origins of the Pagans!
* Also Christians does not eat kosher!
Jesus lied! He did change those rules!
3) Also the Old Testament NEVER SAID THE MESSIAH WILL DIE FOR OUR SINS!
"Every man shall die for HIS OWN sin" - Deuteronomy 24:16
also NOWHERE THE THE OLD TESTAMENT STATE THAT THE MESSIAH WILL HE A SECOND RETURN! And Christians claim Jesus will come back!
4) The Christian bible has been changed many times!
Here is the history of The "Bible"
youtube.com...
5) Jesus broke one of the ten commandments!
"And it was the sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes." - John 9:14
"Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you."-Deuteronomy 5:12
5) The Old Testament was MISTRANSLATED TO FIT WITH JESUS!
The Christian idea of a virgin birth is derived from the verse in Isaiah 7:14 describing an "alma" as giving birth. The word "alma" has always meant a young woman, but Christian theologians came centuries later and translated it as "virgin." This accords Jesus' birth with the first century pagan idea of mortals being impregnated by gods.
6) God is one! Not Three(Jesus, The Holy Ghost, and God!)
"Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is ONE" (Deut. 6:4).
7) Jesus's name has an origin of the devil!
When you pray to J-Esus, you are really praying to the Devil by his name Esus. Esus is the pagan, Satanic god of the Celtic Druids.
The Torah / Tanakh has been written the same since it was given to the Jews by Moses! Also there was a witness of about 33,000 people who heard God speak saying "This is what I want you to follow"!
1) Isaiah 45 and Zafanai 3 shows that when the messiah arrives the world will unite under pure monotheism! No time in Jesus's life time did this happen.
Also, Christianity teaches that there are three gods (The Holy Spirit, God, and Jesus) that are one. Does that sound like pure monotheism to you?
2) Jesus said "Think not that I have come to abolish the law(Torah) and the prophets, I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them. " - Matthew 5
* The Sabbath on SATURDAY is suppose to be an ETERNAL covenant but Christians do not follow that.
* Nor do ALL follow Circumcision which is also an ETERNAL covenant
*Nor do they celebrate Rosh Hashana or Yom Kippur
*Christmas or Easter was never mentioned in the OLD or NEW Testament, and these holidays have some origins of the Pagans!
* Also Christians does not eat kosher!
Jesus lied! He did change those rules!
3) Also the Old Testament NEVER SAID THE MESSIAH WILL DIE FOR OUR SINS!
"Every man shall die for HIS OWN sin" - Deuteronomy 24:16
also NOWHERE THE THE OLD TESTAMENT STATE THAT THE MESSIAH WILL HE A SECOND RETURN! And Christians claim Jesus will come back!
4) The Christian bible has been changed many times!
Here is the history of The "Bible"
youtube.com...
5) Jesus broke one of the ten commandments!
"And it was the sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes." - John 9:14
"Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you."-Deuteronomy 5:12
5) The Old Testament was MISTRANSLATED TO FIT WITH JESUS!
The Christian idea of a virgin birth is derived from the verse in Isaiah 7:14 describing an "alma" as giving birth. The word "alma" has always meant a young woman, but Christian theologians came centuries later and translated it as "virgin." This accords Jesus' birth with the first century pagan idea of mortals being impregnated by gods.
6) God is one! Not Three(Jesus, The Holy Ghost, and God!)
"Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is ONE" (Deut. 6:4).
7) Jesus's name has an origin of the devil!
When you pray to J-Esus, you are really praying to the Devil by his name Esus. Esus is the pagan, Satanic god of the Celtic Druids.
The Torah / Tanakh has been written the same since it was given to the Jews by Moses! Also there was a witness of about 33,000 people who heard God speak saying "This is what I want you to follow"!
City of the future: The giant glass pyramid that could house one million people
With its sharp angles and its glass walls shimmering in the sunlight it looks like a piece of modern art.
But this innovative design is actually a blueprint for the city of the future - a giant glass pyramid that could house up to one million people.
The development, named the 'Ziggurat', will be self sufficient and carbon neutral with power being supplied by wind turbines.
No cars will be allowed inside the 2.3 square kilometre building, with residents being whisked around by a monorail network which operates both horizontally and vertically.
link
GO
But this innovative design is actually a blueprint for the city of the future - a giant glass pyramid that could house up to one million people.
The development, named the 'Ziggurat', will be self sufficient and carbon neutral with power being supplied by wind turbines.
No cars will be allowed inside the 2.3 square kilometre building, with residents being whisked around by a monorail network which operates both horizontally and vertically.
link
GO
Boy, 5, blew £60,000 at shops
A five-year-old boy went on a £60,000 shopping spree after finding a fortune in cash in his dad's safe.
The boy took a gang of friends to a shopping mall and blew the lot on clothes, toys, bicycles, sweets, computers and games.
His father Slobodan Markovic, a Serbian businessman, kept the money in a safe at home, only realised what had happened when his son and his friends came home with dozens of shopping bags.
He said: "I must have forgotten to lock the safe and he just saw the money and took it. I have asked the police to investigate because it is unbelievable that the shop owners let such a young boy do this."
A Belgrade police spokesman confirmed they are investigating Djodja Markovic's spending spree.
The boy took a gang of friends to a shopping mall and blew the lot on clothes, toys, bicycles, sweets, computers and games.
His father Slobodan Markovic, a Serbian businessman, kept the money in a safe at home, only realised what had happened when his son and his friends came home with dozens of shopping bags.
He said: "I must have forgotten to lock the safe and he just saw the money and took it. I have asked the police to investigate because it is unbelievable that the shop owners let such a young boy do this."
A Belgrade police spokesman confirmed they are investigating Djodja Markovic's spending spree.
Grand Theft Auto teen attacked women
teenager obsessed with Grand Theft Auto attacked four women in an imitation of the violent computer game, a court heard.
Ryan Chinnery, 19, from Kent, attacked the women after becoming obsessed with the video nasty.
A court heard yesterday how the teen prowled streets in his car targeting females he thought were prostitutes.
In the video game a character drives around on "missions" — including approaching prostitutes who can be beaten up.
Prosecutor Eleanor Laws quoted in The Sun said Chinnery's love of Grand Theft Auto "may go some way to explaining his attitude towards women".
But Madistone Crown Court was told none of Chinnery's victims were in fact prostitutes.
A copy of Grand Theft Auto was found at his home by police.
The assaults, all at night, took place close to Ashford, Kent, over a two-month period last June when Chinnery was still 17.
Chinnery admitted two sex attacks. Two similar offences were left on file.
According to The Sun, he attacked his first victim under a railway bridge, pulling down her trousers and touching her breasts. He dragged his second victim along a path but they fell down an embankment into a river before anything happened.
Chinnery grabbed his third victim by her arms as she walked home from work. He had to let her go as a passer-by approached.
In his fourth attack attack he made a women remove her clothing before sexually assaulting her, and performing a sex act on himself.
Sentencing was adjourned until next month pending reports, but Chinnery was warned he faced a long jail sentence.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Arctic army reserve to be based in Yellowknif
Arctic army reserve to be based in Yellowknife, MacKay says
The military will establish a permanent army reserve in Canada's North as part of Ottawa's effort to protect Arctic sovereignty, Defence Minister Peter MacKay said Friday.
Although MacKay released few details during an announcement at a military trade show in Halifax, he said the unit would be established in Yellowknife.
The complement would likely consist of 100 soldiers over time, depending upon need, MacKay said.
He added the unit could be used to augment other proposed initiatives in neighbouring Nunavut, including a deepwater port at the former Nanisivik mine site and a military training centre in Resolute.
"This reserve unit covers an enormous amount of land mass and they will also work closely with the Canadian Arctic Rangers," said MacKay.
The Rangers are a largely aboriginal group of reservists considered the military's eyes and ears in the North. They are primarily used for sovereignty patrols and are known for their ability to operate in harsh Arctic conditions.
Arctic expert wary of pre-election promises
The announcement came in advance of an expected election campaign in which the Arctic is likely to be an important issue in the Conservative platform.
And it follows last week's Arctic tour by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, during which he announced that all foreign vessels travelling in Canada's disputed northern waters would have to register with the coast guard.
It's against that backdrop that the newest initiative has to be measured, according to Rob Huebert, associate director for the Centre for Military and Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary.
"I'm always very suspicious of announcements made in an election or an immediate pre-election, particularly when it comes to the North," said Huebert.
"Having said that, this government has actually taken important steps on the Arctic, so perhaps this will be in fact different."
Huebert points out that if nothing else, the symbolism is important for Canada's territories, which have gone without the traditional military reserve units that operate in all 10 provinces.
He said if a unit is established, it will give the military an important link to the community at large and provide northerners with the opportunity to serve at home.
"I think it's also an important signal to the international community that we are continuing to get more and more serious about what we do in the Arctic," Huebert said.
Forces struggling in 'war for talent'
But the good intentions could be derailed by recruiting problems that have hit the military because of retirements and poaching by the private sector.
The problem is so acute it prompted Rick Hillier, the former chief of defence staff, to remark in May that the Canadian Forces is in a domestic "war for talent."
MacKay also announced that one of Canada's oldest reserve units would be returned to active duty for the first time since being stood down in 1965.
The Halifax Rifles will begin recruiting up to 100 members and will likely be used in a reconnaissance or light infantry role.
But filling out the unit will be a challenge, admitted Brig.-Gen. Dave Neasmith, area commander for Land Forces Atlantic.
"Both industry here as well as the Canadian Forces and all the other units are going to be competing for the same quality folks ... and that's why it's going to take a little time to actually stand up the unit," said Neasmith.
MacKay admitted the challenge in Canada's northern regions would likely be complicated by a sparse population spread over vast, rugged geography.
He said that might mean bolstering the Yellowknife unit by a rotation of soldiers from other parts of Canada.
The military will establish a permanent army reserve in Canada's North as part of Ottawa's effort to protect Arctic sovereignty, Defence Minister Peter MacKay said Friday.
Although MacKay released few details during an announcement at a military trade show in Halifax, he said the unit would be established in Yellowknife.
The complement would likely consist of 100 soldiers over time, depending upon need, MacKay said.
He added the unit could be used to augment other proposed initiatives in neighbouring Nunavut, including a deepwater port at the former Nanisivik mine site and a military training centre in Resolute.
"This reserve unit covers an enormous amount of land mass and they will also work closely with the Canadian Arctic Rangers," said MacKay.
The Rangers are a largely aboriginal group of reservists considered the military's eyes and ears in the North. They are primarily used for sovereignty patrols and are known for their ability to operate in harsh Arctic conditions.
Arctic expert wary of pre-election promises
The announcement came in advance of an expected election campaign in which the Arctic is likely to be an important issue in the Conservative platform.
And it follows last week's Arctic tour by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, during which he announced that all foreign vessels travelling in Canada's disputed northern waters would have to register with the coast guard.
It's against that backdrop that the newest initiative has to be measured, according to Rob Huebert, associate director for the Centre for Military and Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary.
"I'm always very suspicious of announcements made in an election or an immediate pre-election, particularly when it comes to the North," said Huebert.
"Having said that, this government has actually taken important steps on the Arctic, so perhaps this will be in fact different."
Huebert points out that if nothing else, the symbolism is important for Canada's territories, which have gone without the traditional military reserve units that operate in all 10 provinces.
He said if a unit is established, it will give the military an important link to the community at large and provide northerners with the opportunity to serve at home.
"I think it's also an important signal to the international community that we are continuing to get more and more serious about what we do in the Arctic," Huebert said.
Forces struggling in 'war for talent'
But the good intentions could be derailed by recruiting problems that have hit the military because of retirements and poaching by the private sector.
The problem is so acute it prompted Rick Hillier, the former chief of defence staff, to remark in May that the Canadian Forces is in a domestic "war for talent."
MacKay also announced that one of Canada's oldest reserve units would be returned to active duty for the first time since being stood down in 1965.
The Halifax Rifles will begin recruiting up to 100 members and will likely be used in a reconnaissance or light infantry role.
But filling out the unit will be a challenge, admitted Brig.-Gen. Dave Neasmith, area commander for Land Forces Atlantic.
"Both industry here as well as the Canadian Forces and all the other units are going to be competing for the same quality folks ... and that's why it's going to take a little time to actually stand up the unit," said Neasmith.
MacKay admitted the challenge in Canada's northern regions would likely be complicated by a sparse population spread over vast, rugged geography.
He said that might mean bolstering the Yellowknife unit by a rotation of soldiers from other parts of Canada.
10 September 2008 - We all will die???
Without sounding too alarmist:
IX-044
Migrés, migrés de Geneue trestous,
Saturne d'or en fer se changera:
Le contre Raypoz exterminera tous,
Auant l'aduent le ciel signes fera.
Migrate, migrate out of Geneva everyone
The sky will change from gold to steel
The "contre Raypoz" will exterminate everyone,
Before the event the sky will show signs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CERN
http://public.web.cern.ch/Public/Welcome.html
http://en.rian.ru/world/20080805/115771418.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/horizon/broadband/tx/universe/
IX-044
Migrés, migrés de Geneue trestous,
Saturne d'or en fer se changera:
Le contre Raypoz exterminera tous,
Auant l'aduent le ciel signes fera.
Migrate, migrate out of Geneva everyone
The sky will change from gold to steel
The "contre Raypoz" will exterminate everyone,
Before the event the sky will show signs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CERN
http://public.web.cern.ch/Public/Welcome.html
http://en.rian.ru/world/20080805/115771418.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/horizon/broadband/tx/universe/
Sun experiences first spotless month in a century
The sun has reached a milestone not seen for nearly 100 years: an entire month has passed without a single visible sunspot being noted. The event is significant as many climatologists now believe solar magnetic activity – which determines the number of sunspots -- is an influencing factor for climate on earth. According to data from Mount Wilson Observatory, UCLA, more than an entire month has passed without a spot. The last time such an event occurred was June of 1913. Sunspot data has been collected since 1749. When the sun is active, it's not uncommon to see sunspot numbers of 100 or more in a single month. Every 11 years, activity slows, and numbers briefly drop to near-zero. Normally sunspots return very quickly, as a new cycle begins. But this year -- which corresponds to the start of Solar Cycle 24 -- has been extraordinarily long and quiet, with the first seven months averaging a sunspot number of only 3. August followed with none at all. The astonishing rapid drop of the past year has defied predictions, and caught nearly all astronomers by surprise. In 2005, a pair of astronomers from the National Solar Observatory (NSO) in Tucson attempted to publish a paper in the journal Science.
The pair looked at minute spectroscopic and magnetic changes in the sun. By extrapolating forward, they reached the startling result that, within 10 years, sunspots would vanish entirely. At the time, the sun was very active. Most of their peers laughed at what they considered an unsubstantiated conclusion. The journal ultimately rejected the paper as being too controversial.
http://www.dailytech.com/Sun+Makes+History+First+Spotless+Month+in+a+Century/article12823.htm
The pair looked at minute spectroscopic and magnetic changes in the sun. By extrapolating forward, they reached the startling result that, within 10 years, sunspots would vanish entirely. At the time, the sun was very active. Most of their peers laughed at what they considered an unsubstantiated conclusion. The journal ultimately rejected the paper as being too controversial.
http://www.dailytech.com/Sun+Makes+History+First+Spotless+Month+in+a+Century/article12823.htm
strange creature
A strange creature washed ashore by a storm in Orkney 200 years ago may finally be identified – thanks to pioneering DNA techniques. The body of the "Stronsay Beast" was found draped over a rock in the winter of 1808. Eyewitnesses said it was more than 55ft long, with a small head, a neck more than 10ft long, a thin body and three pairs of appendages. Descriptions of the long neck led to comparisons with the Loch Ness monster. It is thought it could have been a basking shark – although the creature from historic accounts would be too large – or a previously unknown species of shark. Dr Yvonne Simpson hopes to have the answer in a matter of months after acquiring newly-found bone and bristle fragments held in a private collection since the 1930s. She plans to extract DNA from the fragments and compare it with samples on a database of shark DNA in a new laboratory in Florida.
Dr Simpson will discuss the latest findings at the Orkney International Science Festival next week. She said: "From earlier tests I believe it is either from the shark family or closely related."
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/DNA-tests-hope-to-.4461944.jp
Dr Simpson will discuss the latest findings at the Orkney International Science Festival next week. She said: "From earlier tests I believe it is either from the shark family or closely related."
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/DNA-tests-hope-to-.4461944.jp
Pagan prisoners win right to have 'magic wands', Occult
Prison bosses have been instructed to let pagan inmates keep twigs in their cells...to use as wands. Officers have been told to allow prisoners to collect and decorate the twigs which they need for their rituals. It is the latest in a series of rulings to protect convicts' rights and ensure equality among different faiths. Followers of other faiths are allowed items such as a prayer mat to allow them to worship. The policy regarding pagans was announced by Justice Reform Minister Maria Eagle in a parliamentary answer. She said: "Prison service policy is to enable prisoners of different faith traditions, including paganism, to practise their religion. "Religious artefacts are allowed for relevant faiths within the constraints of good order and discipline. The religious artefacts for pagan prisoners include a flexible twig for a wand." Tory prisons spokesman Edward Garnier said: "This sounds like an April Fool's Day joke.
But there's genuine concern prisoners are taking the system for a ride." Conservative MP Andrew Turner, who uncovered the new ruling, added: "This strikes me as bizarre. A lot of people would be worried about equating paganism with Christianity.".
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=565823&in_page_id=1770
But there's genuine concern prisoners are taking the system for a ride." Conservative MP Andrew Turner, who uncovered the new ruling, added: "This strikes me as bizarre. A lot of people would be worried about equating paganism with Christianity.".
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=565823&in_page_id=1770
Astronomers have taken the closest look ever at the giant black hole in the center of the Milky Way. By combining telescopes in Hawaii, Arizona, and California, they detected structure at a tiny angular scale of 37 micro-arcseconds - the equivalent of a baseball seen on the surface of the moon, 240,000 miles distant. These observations are among the highest resolution ever done in astronomy. "This technique gives us an unmatched view of the region near the Milky Way's central black hole," said Sheperd Doeleman of MIT, first author of the study that will be published in the Sept. 4 issue of the journal Nature. "No one has seen such a fine-grained view of the galactic center before," agreed co-author Jonathan Weintroub of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA). "We've observed nearly to the scale of the black hole event horizon - the region inside of which nothing, including light, can ever escape." Using a technique called Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI), a team of astronomers led by Doeleman employed an array of telescopes to study radio waves coming from the object known as Sagittarius A* (A-star). In VLBI, signals from multiple telescopes are combined to create the equivalent of a single giant telescope, as large as the separation between the facilities. As a result, VLBI yields exquisitely sharp resolution. The Sgr A* radio emission, at a wavelength of 1.
3 mm, escapes the galactic center more easily than emissions at longer wavelengths, which tend to suffer from interstellar scattering. Such scattering acts like fog around a streetlamp, both dimming the light and blurring details. VLBI is ordinarily limited to wavelengths of 3.5 mm and longer; however, using innovative instrumentation and analysis techniques, the team was able to tease out this remarkable result from 1.3-mm VLBI data.
http://www.physorg.com/news139665448.html
3 mm, escapes the galactic center more easily than emissions at longer wavelengths, which tend to suffer from interstellar scattering. Such scattering acts like fog around a streetlamp, both dimming the light and blurring details. VLBI is ordinarily limited to wavelengths of 3.5 mm and longer; however, using innovative instrumentation and analysis techniques, the team was able to tease out this remarkable result from 1.3-mm VLBI data.
http://www.physorg.com/news139665448.html
Could a spy satellite identify any of us from our shadow?
Spy satellites could soon be able to identify someone from space by looking at their shadow.
They would use a computer program that searches for the movement of shadows on the ground, and then identifies their owners from the way they walk.
The technique - called gait analysis - relies on the fact that someone's walking style is very difficult to disguise.
It could be used to monitor known criminals and suspected terrorists using satellites or spy planes. It could even be used in the hunt for Osama Bin Laden.
There is however a significant catch. The system, being developed by Nasa, is useless once the sun goes in.
And, although there has been an explosion in satellite imagery and technology in recent years, it is still impossible to recognise someone with confidence using pictures taken in orbit.
Images from high-altitude aircraft and spacecraft show only the tops of their heads.
Experts say aerial shots are no good for monitoring someone's stride length and walking rhythm.
However, that is not true of shadows. According to Dr Adrian Stoica of Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, video from space could provide enough data to confirm a suspect's identity - as long as details of the person's walking pattern were on file.
He has created computer software that can seek out and recognise the shadows of individuals in aerial video footage, reports New Scientist magazine.
It isolates moving shadows and uses data on the position of the sun and camera angle to 'correct' the shadows if they are foreshortened or elongated.
Dr Stoica, who presented his research at a security conference in Edinburgh, said the software then applies regular gait analysis to the corrected images.
In tests on video footage taken from the sixth floor of an office building, the software spotted shadows and extracted information that could be used to identify someone.
The technique is still at the earliest stages of development, and it could be many years before it is used by military, police and intelligence services.
It also has potential flaws. While satellite gait analysis might be useful in countries such as Pakistan and Iraq, trying to identify a suspected terrorist from a shadow in a rainy Manchester is likely to be fraught with difficulties.
The quality of satellite imagery may also not be good enough to reveal a sharp image.
Space imaging expert Dr Bhupendra Jasani at King's College London says the sort of geostationary satellites currently pointing their cameras down to the Earth simply do not have the resolution to provide useful detail.
'I find it hard to believe they could apply this technique from space,' he said.
Aerial surveillance - a key tactic in military spying
Minor differences in gait that can help identify individuals include the length of steps, walking speed, the wiggle of hips and the angles of the knee, ankle and hip.
Aerial surveillance has long been a key part of military spying - ever since 19th century armies began using hot air balloons to observe enemy positions on the battlefield - but in recent years the speed of technological advance has accelerated.
As well as orbiting satellites, spy planes such as the RAF's Nimrod can circle at high altitude watching the movements of individual enemy gunmen on the ground, by day or night, using high definition thermal cameras.
At the same time unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs - ranging from huge jets the size of an airliner to tiny hand-launched drones a couple of feet across - are now widely used in Iraq and Afghanistan, where commanders on the ground increasingly rely on the images beamed from flying cameras to allow them to track approaching enemies or spot dangers in hostile built-up areas.
They would use a computer program that searches for the movement of shadows on the ground, and then identifies their owners from the way they walk.
The technique - called gait analysis - relies on the fact that someone's walking style is very difficult to disguise.
It could be used to monitor known criminals and suspected terrorists using satellites or spy planes. It could even be used in the hunt for Osama Bin Laden.
There is however a significant catch. The system, being developed by Nasa, is useless once the sun goes in.
And, although there has been an explosion in satellite imagery and technology in recent years, it is still impossible to recognise someone with confidence using pictures taken in orbit.
Images from high-altitude aircraft and spacecraft show only the tops of their heads.
Experts say aerial shots are no good for monitoring someone's stride length and walking rhythm.
However, that is not true of shadows. According to Dr Adrian Stoica of Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, video from space could provide enough data to confirm a suspect's identity - as long as details of the person's walking pattern were on file.
He has created computer software that can seek out and recognise the shadows of individuals in aerial video footage, reports New Scientist magazine.
It isolates moving shadows and uses data on the position of the sun and camera angle to 'correct' the shadows if they are foreshortened or elongated.
Dr Stoica, who presented his research at a security conference in Edinburgh, said the software then applies regular gait analysis to the corrected images.
In tests on video footage taken from the sixth floor of an office building, the software spotted shadows and extracted information that could be used to identify someone.
The technique is still at the earliest stages of development, and it could be many years before it is used by military, police and intelligence services.
It also has potential flaws. While satellite gait analysis might be useful in countries such as Pakistan and Iraq, trying to identify a suspected terrorist from a shadow in a rainy Manchester is likely to be fraught with difficulties.
The quality of satellite imagery may also not be good enough to reveal a sharp image.
Space imaging expert Dr Bhupendra Jasani at King's College London says the sort of geostationary satellites currently pointing their cameras down to the Earth simply do not have the resolution to provide useful detail.
'I find it hard to believe they could apply this technique from space,' he said.
Aerial surveillance - a key tactic in military spying
Minor differences in gait that can help identify individuals include the length of steps, walking speed, the wiggle of hips and the angles of the knee, ankle and hip.
Aerial surveillance has long been a key part of military spying - ever since 19th century armies began using hot air balloons to observe enemy positions on the battlefield - but in recent years the speed of technological advance has accelerated.
As well as orbiting satellites, spy planes such as the RAF's Nimrod can circle at high altitude watching the movements of individual enemy gunmen on the ground, by day or night, using high definition thermal cameras.
At the same time unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs - ranging from huge jets the size of an airliner to tiny hand-launched drones a couple of feet across - are now widely used in Iraq and Afghanistan, where commanders on the ground increasingly rely on the images beamed from flying cameras to allow them to track approaching enemies or spot dangers in hostile built-up areas.
Are we all going to die next Wednesday?
Two nightmare scenarios, two ends of the world. In the first, there is little warning. For maybe a month there would be no sign that life was about to come to an abrupt and nasty end for all living things on Earth.
Then, earthquakes would start unexpectedly, alerting geologists that something terrible, unimaginable, was amiss.
After a few days, these seismic disturbances would reach catastrophic proportions.
Cities would be levelled, the oceans would rise and wash in a series of mega-tsunamis that would attack the world's coasts, killing millions.
The fact that the earthquakes were striking randomly, not along well-known geological faultlines, would be proof that something devastating was afoot.
Finally, the end would come, in a disaster of Biblical scale. The Earth would literally start to crack up.
Molten lava would wash over the land and the seas would start to boil.
Mega-hurricanes would level buildings and forests the world over. Eventually, mountains would crumble as the Earth's crust continued to disintegrate.
The fabric of the planet itself would start to disappear, trillions of tonnes of rock, water, air and life sucked into a whirlpool of unimaginable force.
From space, our blue-and-white home would appear to vanish down a plughole in a flash of light.
At least in this scenario we would have a little time, perhaps, to come to terms with the end.
However, a second doomsday scenario is even more terrifying. There would be no warning at all.
In an instant - about one-twentieth of a second - the entire Earth would simply vanish from space.
Less than two seconds later, the Moon would follow suit. Eight minutes later, the Sun would be ripped apart, followed by the rest of the planets in the solar system and onwards, a wave of destruction caused by a rent in the fabric of space itself, spreading out from our world at the speed of light.
Any extra-terrestrials out there would die too, in due course. And there would be nothing technology could do about it.
But why should we now be worrying about such possible causes of Armageddon?
The answer is a gargantuan machine - the largest, most expensive scientific experiment in history, the 'Large Hadron Collider', to be turned on next Wednesday.
Although it was designed to answer the fundamental questions of life, some people have claimed that it could end up destroying the entire cosmos.
This gigantic £4 billion-plus atom-smasher has been built under the Swiss-French border near Geneva, and is the most powerful device ever built for probing the secrets of the atom and the forces and particles which make up our Universe.
It is a staggering device, occupying a train-sized tunnel 18 miles long, buried 300ft underground, studded with gigantic, cathedral-sized ring-shaped detectors where collisions between packets of 'heavy' subatomic particles, 'hadrons', will take place in the hope that the innermost workings of matter and energy will be revealed.
The LHC is, arguably, the most impressive machine ever built by Mankind.
But a few people are convinced that it should never be turned on. A lawsuit has been lodged at the European Court For Human Rights by a small group of maverick scientists.
They claim there is a small - but not zero - chance that when the LHC is activated it will create either a mini-black hole which would fall into the ground and swallow the Earth from within (scenario one).
Or, even more bizarrely, trigger a catastrophic chain reaction in the very fabric of space and time itself, which would rip apart the entire universe like the skin of a bursting balloon (scenario two).
Bizarrely, this group, led by a German chemist called Otto Rossler, are using the European Convention on human rights to argue that, should the LHC destroy the entire Universe, it would 'violate the right to life and right to private family life'.
In fact, since 1994, when the collider was first mooted by the multi-national European nuclear research organisation (CERN), a small number of doomsayers have claimed that by replicating the conditions pertaining at the start of the universe (Big Bang), about 13,700 million years ago, there would be a small but real risk an unstoppable cataclysm would take place.
This is not a threat taken seriously by the scientists at CERN. When I visited the place a couple of years ago, to see the collider being built, any mention of mini-black holes and other risks elicited only raised eyebrows and shrugs of derision.
The LHC was not designed to destroy the universe, of course, but to fill in some of the embarrassingly large gaps that still run through our basic understanding of physics and how the universe works.
It could discover, for instance, what most of the Universe is actually made of.
The ordinary 'stuff' that we see around us - the atoms and molecules of water, carbon, iron, oxygen and the rest that make up our bodies, the planet Earth, the Moon, the other planets, the Sun and all the stars - actually accounts for only about one part in 25 of the total 'ingredients' of the cosmos.
Astronomers know that something else, invisible and mysterious, must pervade every inch of space, its subtle gravity affecting the movements of the galaxy.
This material - no one really has a clue what it is - has been dubbed 'dark matter' and it is hoped that the collider just might shed some light on what it is, perhaps uncovering a new type of particle.
Perhaps more embarrassingly, we don't know what it is that gives even ordinary matter its mass.
In the 1960s, British physicist Peter Higgs proposed the existence of a new particle, now known as the 'Higgs Particle', which effectively lends 'weight' to the stuff of the universe.
So important and fundamental is this hypothetical entity that it has been dubbed the 'God particle'.
It is hoped that if Higgs is right, the collider could finally clear up this mystery and, as a result of its super-powerful collisions, traces of this particle could emerge.
That alone would, in itself, be justification for a large chunk of that £4 billion outlay. By simulating the Big Bang, it is hoped the LHC will act as a 'universe in a test tube', allowing scientists to examine a whole suite of exotic subatomic particles and forces and to go some way to completing the work started by Einstein and the other giants of 20th-century physics.
So is there really a chance that the scientists have made a terrible miscalculation and that their new toy could inadvertently kill us all?
Happily, the simple answer is no. CERN's scientists have in fact commissioned several safety reviews (such as those that have taken place before other big particle accelerators have been turned on).
All have concluded that there is no measurable risk whatsoever. Perhaps the best argument against the LHC doomsday scenario is that cosmic rays - natural high-energy particles from space - smash into the Earth's atmosphere all the time with far, far more energy than will be generated by this machine.
If it were possible to create a dangerous black hole by simply bashing atomic particles together, this would have happened naturally long ago, and we wouldn't be here to build this particle accelerator in the first place. So we are safe.
In fact, what the scientists at CERN really fear is not the end of the world, but that their machine simply isn't big or powerful enough to uncover anything new - that to probe the deepest secrets of the cosmos they will have to ask for yet more cash to build something on an even greater scale.
Either that, or their equations are simply wrong and a whole new approach is needed, despite the billions they have spent.
Not a doomsday for Earth, perhaps, but a catastrophe for physics.
As for the rest of us, we have to hope that the scientists have done their sums right - and keep our fingers crossed next Wednesday.
Then, earthquakes would start unexpectedly, alerting geologists that something terrible, unimaginable, was amiss.
After a few days, these seismic disturbances would reach catastrophic proportions.
Cities would be levelled, the oceans would rise and wash in a series of mega-tsunamis that would attack the world's coasts, killing millions.
The fact that the earthquakes were striking randomly, not along well-known geological faultlines, would be proof that something devastating was afoot.
Finally, the end would come, in a disaster of Biblical scale. The Earth would literally start to crack up.
Molten lava would wash over the land and the seas would start to boil.
Mega-hurricanes would level buildings and forests the world over. Eventually, mountains would crumble as the Earth's crust continued to disintegrate.
The fabric of the planet itself would start to disappear, trillions of tonnes of rock, water, air and life sucked into a whirlpool of unimaginable force.
From space, our blue-and-white home would appear to vanish down a plughole in a flash of light.
At least in this scenario we would have a little time, perhaps, to come to terms with the end.
However, a second doomsday scenario is even more terrifying. There would be no warning at all.
In an instant - about one-twentieth of a second - the entire Earth would simply vanish from space.
Less than two seconds later, the Moon would follow suit. Eight minutes later, the Sun would be ripped apart, followed by the rest of the planets in the solar system and onwards, a wave of destruction caused by a rent in the fabric of space itself, spreading out from our world at the speed of light.
Any extra-terrestrials out there would die too, in due course. And there would be nothing technology could do about it.
But why should we now be worrying about such possible causes of Armageddon?
The answer is a gargantuan machine - the largest, most expensive scientific experiment in history, the 'Large Hadron Collider', to be turned on next Wednesday.
Although it was designed to answer the fundamental questions of life, some people have claimed that it could end up destroying the entire cosmos.
This gigantic £4 billion-plus atom-smasher has been built under the Swiss-French border near Geneva, and is the most powerful device ever built for probing the secrets of the atom and the forces and particles which make up our Universe.
It is a staggering device, occupying a train-sized tunnel 18 miles long, buried 300ft underground, studded with gigantic, cathedral-sized ring-shaped detectors where collisions between packets of 'heavy' subatomic particles, 'hadrons', will take place in the hope that the innermost workings of matter and energy will be revealed.
The LHC is, arguably, the most impressive machine ever built by Mankind.
But a few people are convinced that it should never be turned on. A lawsuit has been lodged at the European Court For Human Rights by a small group of maverick scientists.
They claim there is a small - but not zero - chance that when the LHC is activated it will create either a mini-black hole which would fall into the ground and swallow the Earth from within (scenario one).
Or, even more bizarrely, trigger a catastrophic chain reaction in the very fabric of space and time itself, which would rip apart the entire universe like the skin of a bursting balloon (scenario two).
Bizarrely, this group, led by a German chemist called Otto Rossler, are using the European Convention on human rights to argue that, should the LHC destroy the entire Universe, it would 'violate the right to life and right to private family life'.
In fact, since 1994, when the collider was first mooted by the multi-national European nuclear research organisation (CERN), a small number of doomsayers have claimed that by replicating the conditions pertaining at the start of the universe (Big Bang), about 13,700 million years ago, there would be a small but real risk an unstoppable cataclysm would take place.
This is not a threat taken seriously by the scientists at CERN. When I visited the place a couple of years ago, to see the collider being built, any mention of mini-black holes and other risks elicited only raised eyebrows and shrugs of derision.
The LHC was not designed to destroy the universe, of course, but to fill in some of the embarrassingly large gaps that still run through our basic understanding of physics and how the universe works.
It could discover, for instance, what most of the Universe is actually made of.
The ordinary 'stuff' that we see around us - the atoms and molecules of water, carbon, iron, oxygen and the rest that make up our bodies, the planet Earth, the Moon, the other planets, the Sun and all the stars - actually accounts for only about one part in 25 of the total 'ingredients' of the cosmos.
Astronomers know that something else, invisible and mysterious, must pervade every inch of space, its subtle gravity affecting the movements of the galaxy.
This material - no one really has a clue what it is - has been dubbed 'dark matter' and it is hoped that the collider just might shed some light on what it is, perhaps uncovering a new type of particle.
Perhaps more embarrassingly, we don't know what it is that gives even ordinary matter its mass.
In the 1960s, British physicist Peter Higgs proposed the existence of a new particle, now known as the 'Higgs Particle', which effectively lends 'weight' to the stuff of the universe.
So important and fundamental is this hypothetical entity that it has been dubbed the 'God particle'.
It is hoped that if Higgs is right, the collider could finally clear up this mystery and, as a result of its super-powerful collisions, traces of this particle could emerge.
That alone would, in itself, be justification for a large chunk of that £4 billion outlay. By simulating the Big Bang, it is hoped the LHC will act as a 'universe in a test tube', allowing scientists to examine a whole suite of exotic subatomic particles and forces and to go some way to completing the work started by Einstein and the other giants of 20th-century physics.
So is there really a chance that the scientists have made a terrible miscalculation and that their new toy could inadvertently kill us all?
Happily, the simple answer is no. CERN's scientists have in fact commissioned several safety reviews (such as those that have taken place before other big particle accelerators have been turned on).
All have concluded that there is no measurable risk whatsoever. Perhaps the best argument against the LHC doomsday scenario is that cosmic rays - natural high-energy particles from space - smash into the Earth's atmosphere all the time with far, far more energy than will be generated by this machine.
If it were possible to create a dangerous black hole by simply bashing atomic particles together, this would have happened naturally long ago, and we wouldn't be here to build this particle accelerator in the first place. So we are safe.
In fact, what the scientists at CERN really fear is not the end of the world, but that their machine simply isn't big or powerful enough to uncover anything new - that to probe the deepest secrets of the cosmos they will have to ask for yet more cash to build something on an even greater scale.
Either that, or their equations are simply wrong and a whole new approach is needed, despite the billions they have spent.
Not a doomsday for Earth, perhaps, but a catastrophe for physics.
As for the rest of us, we have to hope that the scientists have done their sums right - and keep our fingers crossed next Wednesday.
The House of Unholy
This story reflects two major themes I have seen in ghost stories. First, the building, town, setting, etc. that appears one way during the first visit, and another way in a follow-up visit. For example, some stories have reported a tidy, well-kept house that appears to be a charred ruin or abandoned wreck the next time the person visit. This bizarre mansion, with a rumored connection to the "Better Living Through Chemistry" family (the Du Ponts), alters its appearance in the following two stories.
The second major theme of ghost stories in these tales are unknown menaces without faces pursuing visitors.
By Deena Gitaitis
Posting #1
The area where I grew up (Northern Delaware, just below the Pennyslvania border) had the same sort of urban legends, rumors and general teenage superstition that I think every community does. When I was in high school, there was one particularly prevalent story about a mansion located in the woods of the Brandywine Valley.
This house was actually just north of the Pennsylvania border. Everyone called it Cult House.
Now, I'm not sure how this rumor started. I do know that some of my friends' fathers could remember the same story, involving the same location being told when they were in high school.
According to local legend, this mansion is supposedly owned and operated by a "Satanic cult." In some versions, the "cult" is associated with a prominent Delaware family involved in the chemical industry. The window panes are in the shape of inverted crosses. The trees that line the road running along the side of the house grow at a very distinct angle away from the house (in some areas away from their main light source!)
Most interestingly, there is a "guard house" on the grounds, which houses a fleet of red pickup trucks. If you drive past the house too often, one or several of the trucks will come out of the house and chase you away. No matter how close it gets, you will never be able to catch a glimpse of the driver's face.
There is one particular tree along the road that runs past the house which has exposed roots. The roots form the perfect shape of a human skull. It is said that years ago, police found the remains of a sacrificial victim nestled inside the tree. Reports conflict on whether the victim was human or animal. According to the legend, a human sacrifice is performed on the grounds every Halloween.
Well, that's the rumor. Here is my personal experience with "Cult House" (I have been occasionally driving by the place with friends and researching its history for about 7 years now).
The window panes actually are in the shape of inverted crosses. This seems to be not necessarily intentional -- it may just be how those particular panes are shaped. The trees do grow at an extreme angle away from the house (I've never seen trees grow so off-kilter before) -- in some places they do seem to grow away from the main light source. This phenomena stops once you get about 1/4 mile past the house.
There is a guard house and there are red trucks. They have actually followed me before on two occasions.
The first was at night, and the truck's lights were off. (amazing, because there are no streetlights, and the trees allow in no moonlight. I couldn't understand how the driver was able to even stay on the road!) I was behind it at first. The truck pulled over and waited for me to pass. It then pulled out and followed me until I was several miles from the house. I had one passenger in the car, and you can imagine the state we were in. We were scared to death, but REALLY excited!
The next time was also at night, but with a different friend. After we had driven past the guard house several times, we noticed that we were being followed by a red truck. We hadn't seen it even come onto the road. We never saw the driver's face. Again, we were followed until we were several miles from the house, then the truck just pulled over to the side of the road. Again, the headlights were off. I have never seen anyone entering or exiting the main house or the guard house. I know the trucks are housed at the guard house, because at least 5 are usually visible in the driveway.
The "skull tree" does look frighteningly like a human skull. I have never found any newspaper accounts confirming that remains of any kind were found in the tree. I have been able to find absolutely no evidence of sacrificial rites being performed during Halloween or at other times, according to local records.
There are a few other unexplained things about the house. First of all, the road which runs past the house is not on any map that I've ever seen (and believe me, I've looked!) The two roads that "Cult House Road" connects are on the map, but the road itself is missing. It has no visible street sign indicating its name. I believe that it is a public road because it has road signs and is not actually on the property of the house (which sits about 1/4 of a mile back from the road). The county records office can produce no title for a house in that area, matching the description.
The local paper, the News Journal, wanted to run a Halloween feature on the legend, hopefully bringing out the facts and cutting down on some of the traffic on the small rural road.
The city desk editor of the paper (a friend of mine) said that the Journal had obtained a phone number for the house somehow and called to schedule an interview. They explained that they wanted to "debunk" the legend once and for all. She said they were rudely refused by a person who would not even give his name. The journal staff was surprised because they had assumed that the owners would want to stop the rumors.
Lastly, I'd like to give a few of my own impressions of the place. I'm not prepared to say that everything said about the house is true. I can only rely on my own observations. The place definitely has an oppressive air about it.
Several of my friends have been near panic at just being in its vicinity. I know one girl who believed she was in danger of becoming possessed after being near the house. She said the spirit she felt was a female victim of some sort of ritual that had been performed on those grounds. She claimed no previous knowledge of the legends surrounding the house.
Often, I've thought I've seen people moving through the trees near the house. When I look again, they're always gone. I have been chased on a public road by their guards. My friends and I have all seen animals in the woods and on the road that we cannot identify. That may have nothing to do with the house, but it sure contributes to the "weirdness" of the environment.
I don't know how to properly explain it, but once you've turned onto Cult House Road, you feel as if you've entered another dimension. Nothing feels normal. Again, this could all be due to the power of suggestion. Personally, I think there is something going on in the house...I'm just not sure what it is.
Posting #2
I mentioned in my post earlier today, that Chris and I noticed some odd things while tracing the route to Cult House this weekend. Here they are:
First of all, the woods dividing the road and the house seem oddly thinned out. It appears that someone has been chopping down the trees or even using heavy equipment to do this. Why anyone would want to, I don't know -- it does make for a much better view of the house, however. Also, the wooden fence that runs alongside of Cult House Road has now been completely broken through in some places. Behind it is a barbed-wire fence that has just been added.
I noticed a lot more neo-Nazi graffiti (swastikas, mostly -- I know these have magical significance -- but I have a feeling that's not how they are intended in this case.) That really freaked us out. There is actually a lot more graffiti in general (it seems like a lot of kids have been hanging around back there).
When driving past the guard house, it seemed totally abandoned. In fact -- this is going to sound crazy -- it seemed like a totally different building. Granted, I am used to going at night, so I expected everything to seem somewhat different in daylight -- but this was weird.
The building seemed to face the road at a different angle, the shape of the building was different, and the position of the driveway seemed different. There was trash scattered in the yard and junk lying around on the porch. The white paint was yellowing, and the place generally seemed in disrepair. If I didn't know exactly where it was, I wouldn't even have recognized it (the mailbox # is the same, so I know it is the same lot, at least).
When I have seen this house at night, there have always been lights on and sounds of people coming out of the house. (Also, lots of red trucks and other cars in the driveway) It seemed like a well-kept up, upper-class-looking house (appropriate for the guard house of a mansion). The place we passed by on Sunday looked like nobody'd been there in months. I know this sounds VERY hard to believe, but the difference was amazing. The brighter light conditions may have been the cause of this, but I'm not at all sure.
Two more things we noticed on Sunday:
The "inverted" crosses on the windows of Cult House are now right side up! We were flabbergasted. We couldn't believe it, but the windows have definitely been changed. The way they are now gives the impression of a large white cross in every window. As usual, no one could be seen near or in the house.
Lastly, as we were heading home and had just left Cult House Road, Chris said, "That was weird."
"What was weird?", I asked (busy writing down notes for directions).
"There was someone behind us right up until we turned off C.H. road... I was looking in the rear view to see if they were going to turn left and follow us, or go right (in the opposite direction). But they didn't turn off C.H. road at all."
Now, the weird thing about this is that there is really no place to turn around (unless you have a SUPER small car and can do a 3-point turn). Chris said he saw a truck. I really thought he was putting me on at first -- but he swears he did see a truck behind us (black, not red). He wouldn't put me on this long, especially after I told him I was going to mention it in my post. Maybe an entrance or access road we haven't noticed? Who knows?
The second major theme of ghost stories in these tales are unknown menaces without faces pursuing visitors.
By Deena Gitaitis
Posting #1
The area where I grew up (Northern Delaware, just below the Pennyslvania border) had the same sort of urban legends, rumors and general teenage superstition that I think every community does. When I was in high school, there was one particularly prevalent story about a mansion located in the woods of the Brandywine Valley.
This house was actually just north of the Pennsylvania border. Everyone called it Cult House.
Now, I'm not sure how this rumor started. I do know that some of my friends' fathers could remember the same story, involving the same location being told when they were in high school.
According to local legend, this mansion is supposedly owned and operated by a "Satanic cult." In some versions, the "cult" is associated with a prominent Delaware family involved in the chemical industry. The window panes are in the shape of inverted crosses. The trees that line the road running along the side of the house grow at a very distinct angle away from the house (in some areas away from their main light source!)
Most interestingly, there is a "guard house" on the grounds, which houses a fleet of red pickup trucks. If you drive past the house too often, one or several of the trucks will come out of the house and chase you away. No matter how close it gets, you will never be able to catch a glimpse of the driver's face.
There is one particular tree along the road that runs past the house which has exposed roots. The roots form the perfect shape of a human skull. It is said that years ago, police found the remains of a sacrificial victim nestled inside the tree. Reports conflict on whether the victim was human or animal. According to the legend, a human sacrifice is performed on the grounds every Halloween.
Well, that's the rumor. Here is my personal experience with "Cult House" (I have been occasionally driving by the place with friends and researching its history for about 7 years now).
The window panes actually are in the shape of inverted crosses. This seems to be not necessarily intentional -- it may just be how those particular panes are shaped. The trees do grow at an extreme angle away from the house (I've never seen trees grow so off-kilter before) -- in some places they do seem to grow away from the main light source. This phenomena stops once you get about 1/4 mile past the house.
There is a guard house and there are red trucks. They have actually followed me before on two occasions.
The first was at night, and the truck's lights were off. (amazing, because there are no streetlights, and the trees allow in no moonlight. I couldn't understand how the driver was able to even stay on the road!) I was behind it at first. The truck pulled over and waited for me to pass. It then pulled out and followed me until I was several miles from the house. I had one passenger in the car, and you can imagine the state we were in. We were scared to death, but REALLY excited!
The next time was also at night, but with a different friend. After we had driven past the guard house several times, we noticed that we were being followed by a red truck. We hadn't seen it even come onto the road. We never saw the driver's face. Again, we were followed until we were several miles from the house, then the truck just pulled over to the side of the road. Again, the headlights were off. I have never seen anyone entering or exiting the main house or the guard house. I know the trucks are housed at the guard house, because at least 5 are usually visible in the driveway.
The "skull tree" does look frighteningly like a human skull. I have never found any newspaper accounts confirming that remains of any kind were found in the tree. I have been able to find absolutely no evidence of sacrificial rites being performed during Halloween or at other times, according to local records.
There are a few other unexplained things about the house. First of all, the road which runs past the house is not on any map that I've ever seen (and believe me, I've looked!) The two roads that "Cult House Road" connects are on the map, but the road itself is missing. It has no visible street sign indicating its name. I believe that it is a public road because it has road signs and is not actually on the property of the house (which sits about 1/4 of a mile back from the road). The county records office can produce no title for a house in that area, matching the description.
The local paper, the News Journal, wanted to run a Halloween feature on the legend, hopefully bringing out the facts and cutting down on some of the traffic on the small rural road.
The city desk editor of the paper (a friend of mine) said that the Journal had obtained a phone number for the house somehow and called to schedule an interview. They explained that they wanted to "debunk" the legend once and for all. She said they were rudely refused by a person who would not even give his name. The journal staff was surprised because they had assumed that the owners would want to stop the rumors.
Lastly, I'd like to give a few of my own impressions of the place. I'm not prepared to say that everything said about the house is true. I can only rely on my own observations. The place definitely has an oppressive air about it.
Several of my friends have been near panic at just being in its vicinity. I know one girl who believed she was in danger of becoming possessed after being near the house. She said the spirit she felt was a female victim of some sort of ritual that had been performed on those grounds. She claimed no previous knowledge of the legends surrounding the house.
Often, I've thought I've seen people moving through the trees near the house. When I look again, they're always gone. I have been chased on a public road by their guards. My friends and I have all seen animals in the woods and on the road that we cannot identify. That may have nothing to do with the house, but it sure contributes to the "weirdness" of the environment.
I don't know how to properly explain it, but once you've turned onto Cult House Road, you feel as if you've entered another dimension. Nothing feels normal. Again, this could all be due to the power of suggestion. Personally, I think there is something going on in the house...I'm just not sure what it is.
Posting #2
I mentioned in my post earlier today, that Chris and I noticed some odd things while tracing the route to Cult House this weekend. Here they are:
First of all, the woods dividing the road and the house seem oddly thinned out. It appears that someone has been chopping down the trees or even using heavy equipment to do this. Why anyone would want to, I don't know -- it does make for a much better view of the house, however. Also, the wooden fence that runs alongside of Cult House Road has now been completely broken through in some places. Behind it is a barbed-wire fence that has just been added.
I noticed a lot more neo-Nazi graffiti (swastikas, mostly -- I know these have magical significance -- but I have a feeling that's not how they are intended in this case.) That really freaked us out. There is actually a lot more graffiti in general (it seems like a lot of kids have been hanging around back there).
When driving past the guard house, it seemed totally abandoned. In fact -- this is going to sound crazy -- it seemed like a totally different building. Granted, I am used to going at night, so I expected everything to seem somewhat different in daylight -- but this was weird.
The building seemed to face the road at a different angle, the shape of the building was different, and the position of the driveway seemed different. There was trash scattered in the yard and junk lying around on the porch. The white paint was yellowing, and the place generally seemed in disrepair. If I didn't know exactly where it was, I wouldn't even have recognized it (the mailbox # is the same, so I know it is the same lot, at least).
When I have seen this house at night, there have always been lights on and sounds of people coming out of the house. (Also, lots of red trucks and other cars in the driveway) It seemed like a well-kept up, upper-class-looking house (appropriate for the guard house of a mansion). The place we passed by on Sunday looked like nobody'd been there in months. I know this sounds VERY hard to believe, but the difference was amazing. The brighter light conditions may have been the cause of this, but I'm not at all sure.
Two more things we noticed on Sunday:
The "inverted" crosses on the windows of Cult House are now right side up! We were flabbergasted. We couldn't believe it, but the windows have definitely been changed. The way they are now gives the impression of a large white cross in every window. As usual, no one could be seen near or in the house.
Lastly, as we were heading home and had just left Cult House Road, Chris said, "That was weird."
"What was weird?", I asked (busy writing down notes for directions).
"There was someone behind us right up until we turned off C.H. road... I was looking in the rear view to see if they were going to turn left and follow us, or go right (in the opposite direction). But they didn't turn off C.H. road at all."
Now, the weird thing about this is that there is really no place to turn around (unless you have a SUPER small car and can do a 3-point turn). Chris said he saw a truck. I really thought he was putting me on at first -- but he swears he did see a truck behind us (black, not red). He wouldn't put me on this long, especially after I told him I was going to mention it in my post. Maybe an entrance or access road we haven't noticed? Who knows?
Pope finally launches crackdown on world's largest illicit Catholic shrine and suspends 'dubious' priest
The Pope has begun a crackdown on the world’s largest illicit Catholic shrine – by suspending the priest at the centre of claims that the Virgin Mary has appeared more than 40,000 times.
Benedict XVI has authorised ‘severe cautionary and disciplinary measures’ against Father Tomislav Vlasic, the former ‘spiritual director’ to six children who said Our Lady was appearing to them at Medjugorje in Bosnia.
The Franciscan priest has been suspended after he refused to cooperate into claims of scandalous sexual immorality ‘aggravated by mystical motivations’.
He has also been accused of ‘the diffusion of dubious doctrine, manipulation of consciences, suspected mysticism and disobedience towards legitimately issued orders’, and is suspected of heresy and schism.
Father Vlasic was a central figure in promoting the apparitions that allegedly began in 1981 and continue to this day.
In 1984 he boasted to Pope John Paul II that he was the one ‘who through divine providence guides the seers of Medjugorje’ and the visionaries even said that the Virgin had told them he was a living saint.
But the Bosnian cleric later took a back seat when it emerged that he had fathered a child with a nun called Sister Rufina, and that he refused to leave his order to marry her but instead begged her not to expose him.
Father Vlasic then moved to Parma, Italy, where he set up a mixed male and female religious community, called Queen of Peace, which was dedicated to the Medjugorje apparitions.
Medjugorje has grown to become the most visited unauthorised Catholic shrine in the world, attracting hundreds of thousands of pilgrims a year, including many from the UK and Ireland.
But the local bishops are convinced the claims are bogus and in 2006 complained directly to Pope Benedict.
This led to a Vatican investigation which turned the spotlight on the role of Father Vlasic.
The priest has now been suspended by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith after he refused to cooperate with the inquiry into his conduct, instead ‘justifying himself by citing his zealous activity’ in initiating religious communities and building churches the Medjugorje area.
The decree confirming his suspension was signed with the Pope’s approval by Cardinal William Levada, head of CDF, and Father Jose Carballo, the Minister General of the Franciscan Minor Order.
It confines Father Vlasic to a Francisan monastery in Italy and bans him from contact with the Queen of Peace community, or with his lawyers without permission from his superior.
He is banned from making public appearances, preaching and hearing confessions and he will be required to make a solemn profession of the Catholic faith.
The Vatican has warned Father Vlasic that he will be excommunicated if he violates any of the prohibitions.
The action was taken earlier this year but was made public this week by the Bishop of Mostar, Ratko Peric, at the request of the Vatican, to make local people to be aware of the priest’s status.
Father Vlasic is the second spiritual adviser to the seers to be suspended from his ministry. The other, Father Jozo Zovko, was suspended by Bishop Peric in 2004.
It represents a massive blow to millions of Medjugorje followers worldwide who were hoping that the Vatican investigation would legitimise the shrine.
Earlier this year, Italian Bishop Andrea Gemma denounced the Medjugorje claims as the ‘work of the Demon’ and predicted that ‘soon the Vatican will intervene with something explosive to unmask once and for all who is behind this deceit’.
The phenomenon began on 25 June 1981 when six children – Mirjana Dragićević, Marija Pavlović, Vicka Ivanković, Ivan Dragićević, Ivanka Ivanković and Jakov Colo – told a priest they had seen the Virgin on a hillside near their town.
Three Church commissions failed to find evidence to support their claims and the bishops of the former Yugoslavia finally declared that ‘it cannot be affirmed that these matters concern supernatural apparitions or revelations’.
In 1985 Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger – now Pope Benedict – banned pilgrimages to the site, but this has been widely ignored.
Instead the seers have grown wealthy as a result of their claims – and so has their town, which has boomed as a result of the ‘Madonna gold rush’.
Some today own smart executive houses with immaculate gardens, double garages and security gates, and one has a tennis court.
They also own expensive cars and have married – one of them, Ivan Dragicevic, to an American former beauty queen.
Benedict XVI has authorised ‘severe cautionary and disciplinary measures’ against Father Tomislav Vlasic, the former ‘spiritual director’ to six children who said Our Lady was appearing to them at Medjugorje in Bosnia.
The Franciscan priest has been suspended after he refused to cooperate into claims of scandalous sexual immorality ‘aggravated by mystical motivations’.
He has also been accused of ‘the diffusion of dubious doctrine, manipulation of consciences, suspected mysticism and disobedience towards legitimately issued orders’, and is suspected of heresy and schism.
Father Vlasic was a central figure in promoting the apparitions that allegedly began in 1981 and continue to this day.
In 1984 he boasted to Pope John Paul II that he was the one ‘who through divine providence guides the seers of Medjugorje’ and the visionaries even said that the Virgin had told them he was a living saint.
But the Bosnian cleric later took a back seat when it emerged that he had fathered a child with a nun called Sister Rufina, and that he refused to leave his order to marry her but instead begged her not to expose him.
Father Vlasic then moved to Parma, Italy, where he set up a mixed male and female religious community, called Queen of Peace, which was dedicated to the Medjugorje apparitions.
Medjugorje has grown to become the most visited unauthorised Catholic shrine in the world, attracting hundreds of thousands of pilgrims a year, including many from the UK and Ireland.
But the local bishops are convinced the claims are bogus and in 2006 complained directly to Pope Benedict.
This led to a Vatican investigation which turned the spotlight on the role of Father Vlasic.
The priest has now been suspended by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith after he refused to cooperate with the inquiry into his conduct, instead ‘justifying himself by citing his zealous activity’ in initiating religious communities and building churches the Medjugorje area.
The decree confirming his suspension was signed with the Pope’s approval by Cardinal William Levada, head of CDF, and Father Jose Carballo, the Minister General of the Franciscan Minor Order.
It confines Father Vlasic to a Francisan monastery in Italy and bans him from contact with the Queen of Peace community, or with his lawyers without permission from his superior.
He is banned from making public appearances, preaching and hearing confessions and he will be required to make a solemn profession of the Catholic faith.
The Vatican has warned Father Vlasic that he will be excommunicated if he violates any of the prohibitions.
The action was taken earlier this year but was made public this week by the Bishop of Mostar, Ratko Peric, at the request of the Vatican, to make local people to be aware of the priest’s status.
Father Vlasic is the second spiritual adviser to the seers to be suspended from his ministry. The other, Father Jozo Zovko, was suspended by Bishop Peric in 2004.
It represents a massive blow to millions of Medjugorje followers worldwide who were hoping that the Vatican investigation would legitimise the shrine.
Earlier this year, Italian Bishop Andrea Gemma denounced the Medjugorje claims as the ‘work of the Demon’ and predicted that ‘soon the Vatican will intervene with something explosive to unmask once and for all who is behind this deceit’.
The phenomenon began on 25 June 1981 when six children – Mirjana Dragićević, Marija Pavlović, Vicka Ivanković, Ivan Dragićević, Ivanka Ivanković and Jakov Colo – told a priest they had seen the Virgin on a hillside near their town.
Three Church commissions failed to find evidence to support their claims and the bishops of the former Yugoslavia finally declared that ‘it cannot be affirmed that these matters concern supernatural apparitions or revelations’.
In 1985 Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger – now Pope Benedict – banned pilgrimages to the site, but this has been widely ignored.
Instead the seers have grown wealthy as a result of their claims – and so has their town, which has boomed as a result of the ‘Madonna gold rush’.
Some today own smart executive houses with immaculate gardens, double garages and security gates, and one has a tennis court.
They also own expensive cars and have married – one of them, Ivan Dragicevic, to an American former beauty queen.
If God Created Everything, Who Created God?
Who created God? It is an age-old question that has plagued all those who like to think about the big questions. Having grown up as an agnostic non-Christian, it provided me with a potential reason why there might not be any god. Various religions tend to solve the problem in different ways. The LDS church (Mormonism) says that the God (Elohim) to whom we are accountable had a father god, then grew up on a planet as a man, and progressed to become a god himself. Many other religions have claimed that gods beget other gods. Of course the problem with this idea is how did the first god get here? This problem of infinite regression invalidates such religions. Christianity claims that God has always existed. Is this idea even possible? Does science address such issues?
Christianity's answerChristianity answers the question of who created God in the very first verse of the very first book, Genesis:
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1)
This verse tells us that God was acting before time when He created the universe. Many other verses from the New Testament tells us that God was acting before time began, and so, He created time, along with the other dimensions of our universe:
No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. (1 Corinthians 2:7)
This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time (2 Timothy 1:9)
The hope of eternal life, which God... promised before the beginning of time (Titus 1:2)
To the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (Jude 1:25)
God exists in timeless eternityHow does God acting before time began get around the problem of God's creation? There are two possible interpretations of these verses. One is that God exists outside of time. Since we live in a universe of cause and effect, we naturally assume that this is the only way in which any kind of existence can function. However, the premise is false. Without the dimension of time, there is no cause and effect, and all things that could exist in such a realm would have no need of being caused, but would have always existed. Therefore, God has no need of being created, but, in fact, created the time dimension of our universe specifically for a reason - so that cause and effect would exist for us. However, since God created time, cause and effect would never apply to His existence.
God exists in multiple dimension of timeThe second interpretation is that God exists in more than one dimension of time. Things that exist in one dimension of time are restricted to time's arrow and are confined to cause and effect. However, two dimensions of time form a plane of time, which has no beginning and no end and is not restricted to any single direction. A being that exists in at least two dimension of time can travel anywhere in time and yet never had a beginning, since a plane of time has no starting point. Either interpretation leads one to the conclusion that God has no need of having been created.
Why can't the universe be eternal?The idea that God can be eternal leads us to the idea that maybe the universe is eternal, and, therefore, God doesn't need to exist at all. Actually, this was the prevalent belief of atheists before the observational data of the 20th century strongly refuted the idea that the universe was eternal. This fact presented a big dilemma for atheists, since a non-eternal universe implied that it must have been caused. Maybe Genesis 1:1 was correct! Not to be dismayed by the facts, atheists have invented some metaphysical "science" that attempt to explain away the existence of God. Hence, most atheistic cosmologists believe that we see only the visible part of a much larger "multiverse" that randomly spews out universes with different physical parameters.1 Since there is no evidence supporting this idea (nor can there be, according to the laws of the universe), it is really just a substitute "god" for atheists. And, since this "god" is non-intelligent by definition, it requires a complex hypothesis, which would be ruled out if we use Occam's razor, which states that one should use the simplest logical explanation for any phenomenon. Purposeful intelligent design of the universe makes much more sense, especially based upon what we know about the design of the universe.
What does science say about time?When Stephen Hawking, George Ellis, and Roger Penrose extended the equations for general relativity to include space and time, the results showed that time has a beginning - at the moment of creation (i.e., the Big Bang).2 In fact, if you examine university websites, you will find that many professors make such a claim - that the universe had a beginning and that this beginning marked the beginning of time (see The Universe is Not Eternal, But Had A Beginning). Such assertions support the Bible's claim that time began at the creation of the universe.
Conclusion God has no need to have been created, since He exists either outside time (where cause and effect do not operate) or within multiple dimensions of time (such that there is no beginning of God's plane of time). Hence God is eternal, having never been created. Although it is possible that the universe itself is eternal, eliminating the need for its creation, observational evidence contradicts this hypothesis, since the universe began to exist a finite ~13.7 billion years ago. The only possible escape for the atheist is the invention of a kind of super universe, which can never be confirmed experimentally (hence it is metaphysical in nature, and not scientific).
Christianity's answerChristianity answers the question of who created God in the very first verse of the very first book, Genesis:
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1)
This verse tells us that God was acting before time when He created the universe. Many other verses from the New Testament tells us that God was acting before time began, and so, He created time, along with the other dimensions of our universe:
No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. (1 Corinthians 2:7)
This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time (2 Timothy 1:9)
The hope of eternal life, which God... promised before the beginning of time (Titus 1:2)
To the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (Jude 1:25)
God exists in timeless eternityHow does God acting before time began get around the problem of God's creation? There are two possible interpretations of these verses. One is that God exists outside of time. Since we live in a universe of cause and effect, we naturally assume that this is the only way in which any kind of existence can function. However, the premise is false. Without the dimension of time, there is no cause and effect, and all things that could exist in such a realm would have no need of being caused, but would have always existed. Therefore, God has no need of being created, but, in fact, created the time dimension of our universe specifically for a reason - so that cause and effect would exist for us. However, since God created time, cause and effect would never apply to His existence.
God exists in multiple dimension of timeThe second interpretation is that God exists in more than one dimension of time. Things that exist in one dimension of time are restricted to time's arrow and are confined to cause and effect. However, two dimensions of time form a plane of time, which has no beginning and no end and is not restricted to any single direction. A being that exists in at least two dimension of time can travel anywhere in time and yet never had a beginning, since a plane of time has no starting point. Either interpretation leads one to the conclusion that God has no need of having been created.
Why can't the universe be eternal?The idea that God can be eternal leads us to the idea that maybe the universe is eternal, and, therefore, God doesn't need to exist at all. Actually, this was the prevalent belief of atheists before the observational data of the 20th century strongly refuted the idea that the universe was eternal. This fact presented a big dilemma for atheists, since a non-eternal universe implied that it must have been caused. Maybe Genesis 1:1 was correct! Not to be dismayed by the facts, atheists have invented some metaphysical "science" that attempt to explain away the existence of God. Hence, most atheistic cosmologists believe that we see only the visible part of a much larger "multiverse" that randomly spews out universes with different physical parameters.1 Since there is no evidence supporting this idea (nor can there be, according to the laws of the universe), it is really just a substitute "god" for atheists. And, since this "god" is non-intelligent by definition, it requires a complex hypothesis, which would be ruled out if we use Occam's razor, which states that one should use the simplest logical explanation for any phenomenon. Purposeful intelligent design of the universe makes much more sense, especially based upon what we know about the design of the universe.
What does science say about time?When Stephen Hawking, George Ellis, and Roger Penrose extended the equations for general relativity to include space and time, the results showed that time has a beginning - at the moment of creation (i.e., the Big Bang).2 In fact, if you examine university websites, you will find that many professors make such a claim - that the universe had a beginning and that this beginning marked the beginning of time (see The Universe is Not Eternal, But Had A Beginning). Such assertions support the Bible's claim that time began at the creation of the universe.
Conclusion God has no need to have been created, since He exists either outside time (where cause and effect do not operate) or within multiple dimensions of time (such that there is no beginning of God's plane of time). Hence God is eternal, having never been created. Although it is possible that the universe itself is eternal, eliminating the need for its creation, observational evidence contradicts this hypothesis, since the universe began to exist a finite ~13.7 billion years ago. The only possible escape for the atheist is the invention of a kind of super universe, which can never be confirmed experimentally (hence it is metaphysical in nature, and not scientific).
New clues to mystery sea monster
Fresh clues have been found to help a scientist in her efforts to identify a mystery creature found on Orkney.
Geneticist Dr Yvonne Simpson has researched the Stronsay Beast and will reveal her latest discoveries at the Orkney International Science Festival.
The creature's carcass, which some said was that of a basking shark, was found off Stronsay in 1808.
Dr Simpson has said the descriptions of its long neck were along the lines of those of the Loch Ness Monster.
Festival director Howie Firth said few tissue samples had survived, but through her studies the geneticist had found several other items recovered from the remains.
The festival opens on Thursday and Dr Simpson will give her talk on 12 September - the 200th anniversary year of the day the creature was found.
Last year, she gave a joint talk with Loch Ness expert Adrian Shine during the Highlands Science Festival.
The Stronsay Beast was first sighted in September 1808 on rocks at Rothiesholm Head, on the south east of the island, by a local fisherman.
Sworn testimonies
Various others saw the carcass and fragments of it are preserved at the Royal Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.
Some people suggested it was a basking shark or a large unidentified shark.
Orcadian Dr Simpson, who has a degree in evolutionary, environmental and biomedical genetics from the University of St Andrews and a PhD in the field of DNA damage repair from Edinburgh's pathology department, is fascinated by the stories.
Of her research comparing the two "monsters", she told the BBC Scotland news website last year: "Based on an analysis of eye-witness descriptions, Nessie and the Stronsay Beast are both massive aquatic creatures.
"The drawings of the Stronsay Beast carcass are strikingly similar in shape and size to the popular image of Nessie."
During her studies of the Orkney creature, Dr Simpson was impressed by the wealth of eye witness accounts and sworn testimonies given to justices of the peace.
Geneticist Dr Yvonne Simpson has researched the Stronsay Beast and will reveal her latest discoveries at the Orkney International Science Festival.
The creature's carcass, which some said was that of a basking shark, was found off Stronsay in 1808.
Dr Simpson has said the descriptions of its long neck were along the lines of those of the Loch Ness Monster.
Festival director Howie Firth said few tissue samples had survived, but through her studies the geneticist had found several other items recovered from the remains.
The festival opens on Thursday and Dr Simpson will give her talk on 12 September - the 200th anniversary year of the day the creature was found.
Last year, she gave a joint talk with Loch Ness expert Adrian Shine during the Highlands Science Festival.
The Stronsay Beast was first sighted in September 1808 on rocks at Rothiesholm Head, on the south east of the island, by a local fisherman.
Sworn testimonies
Various others saw the carcass and fragments of it are preserved at the Royal Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.
Some people suggested it was a basking shark or a large unidentified shark.
Orcadian Dr Simpson, who has a degree in evolutionary, environmental and biomedical genetics from the University of St Andrews and a PhD in the field of DNA damage repair from Edinburgh's pathology department, is fascinated by the stories.
Of her research comparing the two "monsters", she told the BBC Scotland news website last year: "Based on an analysis of eye-witness descriptions, Nessie and the Stronsay Beast are both massive aquatic creatures.
"The drawings of the Stronsay Beast carcass are strikingly similar in shape and size to the popular image of Nessie."
During her studies of the Orkney creature, Dr Simpson was impressed by the wealth of eye witness accounts and sworn testimonies given to justices of the peace.
Which theory is the true one?, About chupacabra.Puerto Rico
Last night I was watching a show on Discovery Chanel and it was about Chupacabra. The guy who did the show had few theories on what they are and where did they come from. I thought it was pretty interesting. I was wandering what everybody else thinks about them.
Here they are.
1/ They first appeared in Puerto Rico when there were lots of UFO sightings and some people claim they have actually seen them being left behind when mother ship took off. There is no evidence to support this but why not, I say. The only thing that doesn't make sense is - in less then 12 months Chupacabras have been seen in Mexico and even as far as North America. And there were 1000s of reports. Some of them happened in the same day but 100s of miles away. How many of them were left behind then?
2/ There are portals to other dimensions all over the world and some of those places are thought of as "cursed" and it goes back to 1000s of years ago. Anyway, this guy thinks that maybe all these creatures (even Big foot) live there and they come to visit.
The jungle in Puerto Rico where most of the sightings have happened has been "cursed" and people go missing all the time. Could they have found the portal or are they just hopeless at reading maps. ? Once again, there is no proof to this theory.
3/ Chupacabras are mutated insects. Apparently they sort of look like giant mosquitoes and as they originally came from such a deep unexplored jungle, could it be possible that they lived there for years without being discovered? But I don't understand, how come they only started coming out few years ago? Where were they until then? Did they all of a sudden develop the taste for sheep and other domestic animals?
4/ In Puerto Rico US government has labs and they don't need approval to conduct any sort of experiment. So after the WWI they started developing this creature which they were going to use in wars. It was said that this creature would suck blood out of the enemy soldiers. There are even some stories from WWII. Japanese soldiers used to find their men with not even one drop of blood left in them and only a small scar. What happened to them? No one can tell for sure.
Anyway, apparently later on CIA lost control over those creatures and some of them escaped into the jungle.
Lots of Puerto Ricans believe this story because it is a proven fact that CIA did do all sorts of experiments over there because they weren't allowed to do them in America.
So what is your opinion? I'd go with 4. I mean, why not? Why couldn't people make a new creature? That is possible, right?
Here they are.
1/ They first appeared in Puerto Rico when there were lots of UFO sightings and some people claim they have actually seen them being left behind when mother ship took off. There is no evidence to support this but why not, I say. The only thing that doesn't make sense is - in less then 12 months Chupacabras have been seen in Mexico and even as far as North America. And there were 1000s of reports. Some of them happened in the same day but 100s of miles away. How many of them were left behind then?
2/ There are portals to other dimensions all over the world and some of those places are thought of as "cursed" and it goes back to 1000s of years ago. Anyway, this guy thinks that maybe all these creatures (even Big foot) live there and they come to visit.
The jungle in Puerto Rico where most of the sightings have happened has been "cursed" and people go missing all the time. Could they have found the portal or are they just hopeless at reading maps. ? Once again, there is no proof to this theory.
3/ Chupacabras are mutated insects. Apparently they sort of look like giant mosquitoes and as they originally came from such a deep unexplored jungle, could it be possible that they lived there for years without being discovered? But I don't understand, how come they only started coming out few years ago? Where were they until then? Did they all of a sudden develop the taste for sheep and other domestic animals?
4/ In Puerto Rico US government has labs and they don't need approval to conduct any sort of experiment. So after the WWI they started developing this creature which they were going to use in wars. It was said that this creature would suck blood out of the enemy soldiers. There are even some stories from WWII. Japanese soldiers used to find their men with not even one drop of blood left in them and only a small scar. What happened to them? No one can tell for sure.
Anyway, apparently later on CIA lost control over those creatures and some of them escaped into the jungle.
Lots of Puerto Ricans believe this story because it is a proven fact that CIA did do all sorts of experiments over there because they weren't allowed to do them in America.
So what is your opinion? I'd go with 4. I mean, why not? Why couldn't people make a new creature? That is possible, right?
Bojan Debut Not A Priority
Questions have been raised about del Bosque’s starting XI for his very first competitive outing with the national team. The injuries to attackers Fernando Torres and David Silva have opened the door for other players to make their mark and one of them is Bojan.
The recently turned 18 year old made the La Roja squad in the friendly against Denmark a few weeks ago but failed to make his debut on the pitch as he was not called upon.
The Spanish press are now interested if the teenager will get a glimpse of first team action this Saturday against Bosnia-Herzegovina in the World Cup qualifiers, but del Bosque was not too concerned about that.
“Bojan is just one of the 19 players that we have and we will use him if we need to. But whether or not he makes his debut is not a priority question,” revealed the 57 year during the team’s press conference.
Del Bosque acknowledged that the nation will head into the qualifiers with a big target on their backs as European champions, but he assured that he is well equipped to handle the situation.
“I am accustomed to the pressure. The team that I coached before was a team that everyone wanted to beat,” he remarked slyly, referring to his former club, Real Madrid.
“But we are our biggest enemy. We are conscious of what we have achieved in the past but the future starts tomorrow against Bosnia.
“It will be a long campaign but we have very little margin for error. We have to apply ourselves from the first minute,” he concluded.
The recently turned 18 year old made the La Roja squad in the friendly against Denmark a few weeks ago but failed to make his debut on the pitch as he was not called upon.
The Spanish press are now interested if the teenager will get a glimpse of first team action this Saturday against Bosnia-Herzegovina in the World Cup qualifiers, but del Bosque was not too concerned about that.
“Bojan is just one of the 19 players that we have and we will use him if we need to. But whether or not he makes his debut is not a priority question,” revealed the 57 year during the team’s press conference.
Del Bosque acknowledged that the nation will head into the qualifiers with a big target on their backs as European champions, but he assured that he is well equipped to handle the situation.
“I am accustomed to the pressure. The team that I coached before was a team that everyone wanted to beat,” he remarked slyly, referring to his former club, Real Madrid.
“But we are our biggest enemy. We are conscious of what we have achieved in the past but the future starts tomorrow against Bosnia.
“It will be a long campaign but we have very little margin for error. We have to apply ourselves from the first minute,” he concluded.
Torino Have Giannichedda Idea
The transfer window may be closed for most teams and players, however some players are now out of contract and are still looking for a new club to lend their talents to. One of these players is Giuliano Giannichedda, who has attracted the attention of the Granata.
Torino are looking for a replacement for Austrailian Vince Grella, a ball-winner in midfield who left for Blackburn during the summer. The club did bring in young Swiss midfielder Blerin Dzemaili, but coach Gianni De Biasi intend to use him as more of a deep-lying playmaker similar to veteran Eugenio Corini.
Giannichedda in fact in a recent interview stated he has had contact with Torino as well as Frosinone and former club Udinese. At the Stadio Fruili the defensive midfielder put in several good performances that even resulted in him earning a few appearances for the national team, at the time coached by Dino Zoff.
The player was a first-team regular on both Udinese (where he played between 1995-2001) and Lazio (from 2001-2005), before a brief and unsuccessful spell at Juventus (2005 to 2007). He spent last season at Livorno but failed to make much of an impact as the club were relegated to Serie B.
The player will be turning 34 on September 21, and it should be known very soon whether he will join Torino or attempt to continue his career elsewhere in the peninsula.
Torino are looking for a replacement for Austrailian Vince Grella, a ball-winner in midfield who left for Blackburn during the summer. The club did bring in young Swiss midfielder Blerin Dzemaili, but coach Gianni De Biasi intend to use him as more of a deep-lying playmaker similar to veteran Eugenio Corini.
Giannichedda in fact in a recent interview stated he has had contact with Torino as well as Frosinone and former club Udinese. At the Stadio Fruili the defensive midfielder put in several good performances that even resulted in him earning a few appearances for the national team, at the time coached by Dino Zoff.
The player was a first-team regular on both Udinese (where he played between 1995-2001) and Lazio (from 2001-2005), before a brief and unsuccessful spell at Juventus (2005 to 2007). He spent last season at Livorno but failed to make much of an impact as the club were relegated to Serie B.
The player will be turning 34 on September 21, and it should be known very soon whether he will join Torino or attempt to continue his career elsewhere in the peninsula.
Official: Recoba Joins Panionios
An official statement from www.pgss.gr read: “Panionios is pleased to announce that Alvaro Recoba has signed a two-year contract with the club, which will be lodged with the Greek Super League on Monday.
“Recoba is expected to arrive in Greece on Sunday evening.”
Panionios face Panserraikos away in their second Greek Super League game on the 13th of September, after losing their first match at home against Skoda Xanthi on the weekend.
“Recoba is expected to arrive in Greece on Sunday evening.”
Panionios face Panserraikos away in their second Greek Super League game on the 13th of September, after losing their first match at home against Skoda Xanthi on the weekend.
Rooney: Time To Right Our Wrongs
Anything less than a comprehensive beating of Andorra on Saturday will restart the deluge of critique, and the Manchester United star knows that the unthinkable act of dropping points against the minnows will have dire consequences for all involved.
“I think especially as we didn’t qualify for the Euros, it’s a massive game for us now,” Rooney said to Setanta Sports' Friday Football Show.
“We want to start off the campaign well and get the three points.
“We know from last time we played them it will be a fairly tough game – we had to work quite hard for the victory.
“We understand it’s going to be a tough game but we want to go out there and put a good performance on.
“We let ourselves down – we let the country down – by not qualifying for the Euros.
“There’s been things saying the players don’t care: us players are proud and privileged to play for our country and we will give the best we can.
“We all want to win trophies with our country.”
Andorra played host to England last year in a fiery encounter where Wayne Rooney had to be substituted on the hour mark by then manager Steve McClaren for fear he would be sent for an early bath
“I think especially as we didn’t qualify for the Euros, it’s a massive game for us now,” Rooney said to Setanta Sports' Friday Football Show.
“We want to start off the campaign well and get the three points.
“We know from last time we played them it will be a fairly tough game – we had to work quite hard for the victory.
“We understand it’s going to be a tough game but we want to go out there and put a good performance on.
“We let ourselves down – we let the country down – by not qualifying for the Euros.
“There’s been things saying the players don’t care: us players are proud and privileged to play for our country and we will give the best we can.
“We all want to win trophies with our country.”
Andorra played host to England last year in a fiery encounter where Wayne Rooney had to be substituted on the hour mark by then manager Steve McClaren for fear he would be sent for an early bath
Balotelli: Finally I’m Playing For Italy
Balotelli was born in Palermo to Ghanaian immigrants and adopted by an Italian family in Brescia at the age of two, however he only received his Italian citizenship when he turned 18 this August.
The 18 year old made his debut for the Azzurini coached by Pierluigi Casiraghi and it was a successful one, as he scored Italy's lone goal in the 1-1 draw with the Greece U-21 side in European Championship qualifying.
"I am very happy with the goal, less so for the result, but that is part of football," explained Balotelli, who also scored in Inter's Italian Super Cup victory over Roma on August 24th.
"Both teams played well and on a personal level I am content, although one can always do better,” he added.
Balotelli proved to be a handful for the Greek defence all evening, and had several chances besides his well-taken goal and his first at an international level.
"The Italy goal was special as I waited so long and passionately wanted to wear this shirt," the player smiled after the match at Castel Di Sangro.
This is the first youth level Balotelli has played at for Italy as he just recently obtained his citizenship, but he professed that he had little trouble adapting to his new teammates: "When you play with figures of this quality, it all becomes easier. We got on right away and I settled very quickly.”
The young prodigy is likely to feature in Inter's next match at the San Siro against Catania next weekend.
The 18 year old made his debut for the Azzurini coached by Pierluigi Casiraghi and it was a successful one, as he scored Italy's lone goal in the 1-1 draw with the Greece U-21 side in European Championship qualifying.
"I am very happy with the goal, less so for the result, but that is part of football," explained Balotelli, who also scored in Inter's Italian Super Cup victory over Roma on August 24th.
"Both teams played well and on a personal level I am content, although one can always do better,” he added.
Balotelli proved to be a handful for the Greek defence all evening, and had several chances besides his well-taken goal and his first at an international level.
"The Italy goal was special as I waited so long and passionately wanted to wear this shirt," the player smiled after the match at Castel Di Sangro.
This is the first youth level Balotelli has played at for Italy as he just recently obtained his citizenship, but he professed that he had little trouble adapting to his new teammates: "When you play with figures of this quality, it all becomes easier. We got on right away and I settled very quickly.”
The young prodigy is likely to feature in Inter's next match at the San Siro against Catania next weekend.
Balotelli Scores On Italy Debut
Pierluigi Casiraghi's men needed a victory to ensure early qualification to the European Championships, but were unable to achieve it. It was an exciting match nonetheless as the Azzurini met a determined Greece side.
Italy started the brighter and Balotelli's close range effort narrowly missed the goal, while Greece nearly scored on the counter attack soon after.
It was debutant Balotelli who broke the deadlock, Fiorentina's Daniel Pablo Osvaldo's cross fell to 'Super Mario' and he finished off the chance on the volley to give Italy a deserved 1-0 lead.
Juventus' Sebastian Giovinco was very active and he drilled a shot just wide from the top of the box as Italy continued to press in order to finish off the game.
However, the second half was another story as the Greeks were not to be outdone, Christodoulopoulos took advantage of the space he was left by the Italian defence and unleashed a rocket into the net from 20 metres.
As the match wore on, the Italians seemed to tire, perhaps as a result of playing in the Olympics in Beijing just a few weeks ago. They certainly put in plenty of effort, though, as Balotelli's overhead kick flew just over the bar and Claudio Marchisio had his penalty claim waved off in injury time.
Casiraghi will take both positives and negatives away from the match, as the defence looked suspect on many occasions, but Balotelli and company upfront were a constant threat.
The draw leaves the Italians on top of the group with 23 points, while Croatia are just two points behind them on 21.
Italy 1-1 Greece
1-0: Balotelli 33’
1-1: Christodoulopoulos 55’
Referee: De Sousa (Por)
Italy: Consigli; Motta, Andreolli, Bocchetti, Criscito; Dessena, Cigarini (Morosini 69), Marchisio (De Ceglie 92); Giovinco, Osvaldo (Lanzafame 77); Balotelli
Greece: Kasmeridis; Maniatis, Siontis, Tripotseris, Ioannidis; Balafas, Dimoutsos (Papadopoulos 75), Rika; Marinos, Petropoulos (Mitroglu 64), Christodoulopoulos (Pavlis 82)
Italy started the brighter and Balotelli's close range effort narrowly missed the goal, while Greece nearly scored on the counter attack soon after.
It was debutant Balotelli who broke the deadlock, Fiorentina's Daniel Pablo Osvaldo's cross fell to 'Super Mario' and he finished off the chance on the volley to give Italy a deserved 1-0 lead.
Juventus' Sebastian Giovinco was very active and he drilled a shot just wide from the top of the box as Italy continued to press in order to finish off the game.
However, the second half was another story as the Greeks were not to be outdone, Christodoulopoulos took advantage of the space he was left by the Italian defence and unleashed a rocket into the net from 20 metres.
As the match wore on, the Italians seemed to tire, perhaps as a result of playing in the Olympics in Beijing just a few weeks ago. They certainly put in plenty of effort, though, as Balotelli's overhead kick flew just over the bar and Claudio Marchisio had his penalty claim waved off in injury time.
Casiraghi will take both positives and negatives away from the match, as the defence looked suspect on many occasions, but Balotelli and company upfront were a constant threat.
The draw leaves the Italians on top of the group with 23 points, while Croatia are just two points behind them on 21.
Italy 1-1 Greece
1-0: Balotelli 33’
1-1: Christodoulopoulos 55’
Referee: De Sousa (Por)
Italy: Consigli; Motta, Andreolli, Bocchetti, Criscito; Dessena, Cigarini (Morosini 69), Marchisio (De Ceglie 92); Giovinco, Osvaldo (Lanzafame 77); Balotelli
Greece: Kasmeridis; Maniatis, Siontis, Tripotseris, Ioannidis; Balafas, Dimoutsos (Papadopoulos 75), Rika; Marinos, Petropoulos (Mitroglu 64), Christodoulopoulos (Pavlis 82)
Dunga Announces Exciting Offensive Trio
On Friday Carlos Dunga confirmed Brazil's starting XI to face Chile in a vital World Cup qualifier on Sunday, with Robinho, Ronaldinho and Luis Fabiano creating an intimidating offensive trio.
The Brazilian coach announced the team after their final training session in Teresopolis (90 km from Rio de Janeiro), before taking a flight to Santiago, Chile.
Brazil's starting XI will be the following: Julio Cesar in goal, Maicon, Lucio, Luisao and Kleber in defense, Gilberto Silva, Josue, Diego as the midfielders, and Robinho, Ronaldinho and Luis Fabiano in the attack.
"We want to maintain our structure, so that the players understand each other so that they can play a good match, and that is why I kept the same team (for Chile) for both of our preparation matches. We want to maintain that team in the case that there are no injuries before the match," stated Dunga.
Dunga seems to have listened to the advice from his critics, and has announced an offensive trio of Robinho, Ronaldinho and Luis Fabiano, as his side look to pick up what would be three crucial points in Santiago. Brazil promise to be a very attacking side, but still maintain a strong defensive structure in the midfield.
"It will be necessary to be very alert, we have to work more with the ball and need to be patient. We will try to make the most of our technique, which is the best thing we have," he affirmed.
The Brazilian coach announced the team after their final training session in Teresopolis (90 km from Rio de Janeiro), before taking a flight to Santiago, Chile.
Brazil's starting XI will be the following: Julio Cesar in goal, Maicon, Lucio, Luisao and Kleber in defense, Gilberto Silva, Josue, Diego as the midfielders, and Robinho, Ronaldinho and Luis Fabiano in the attack.
"We want to maintain our structure, so that the players understand each other so that they can play a good match, and that is why I kept the same team (for Chile) for both of our preparation matches. We want to maintain that team in the case that there are no injuries before the match," stated Dunga.
Dunga seems to have listened to the advice from his critics, and has announced an offensive trio of Robinho, Ronaldinho and Luis Fabiano, as his side look to pick up what would be three crucial points in Santiago. Brazil promise to be a very attacking side, but still maintain a strong defensive structure in the midfield.
"It will be necessary to be very alert, we have to work more with the ball and need to be patient. We will try to make the most of our technique, which is the best thing we have," he affirmed.
Basile: Di Maria Is Explosive
Alfio Basile, told the press on Friday, that "there's a great possibility" that his formation against Paraguay will be similar to the one that he has been utilizing in the training sessions during the week.
The former Boca Juniors coach insists that he is "happy with the training session the team had (on Friday), they played how I like them to play, that's why I choose players with a good touch."
His starting XI is likely to be made up with the following players: Roberto Abbondanzieri, Javier Zanetti, Martin Demichelis, Fabricio Coloccini, Gabriel Heinze, Javier Mascherano, Esteban Cambiasso, Angel Di Maria, Juan Roman Riquelme, Lionel Messi and Carlos Tevez.
Basile expects a good performance from his side because he believes they owe this to their fans, after the disappointing 1-1 draw with Ecuador in their last World Cup qualifier at the Monumental stadium.
The coach admitted that Di Maria "deserves a place" in the team, and that the Benfica striker is more than capable of living up to the responsibility.
"I loved how he played in the Olympic Games, he is an explosive player, I think his time has arrived, and he deserves an opportunity."
The former Boca Juniors coach insists that he is "happy with the training session the team had (on Friday), they played how I like them to play, that's why I choose players with a good touch."
His starting XI is likely to be made up with the following players: Roberto Abbondanzieri, Javier Zanetti, Martin Demichelis, Fabricio Coloccini, Gabriel Heinze, Javier Mascherano, Esteban Cambiasso, Angel Di Maria, Juan Roman Riquelme, Lionel Messi and Carlos Tevez.
Basile expects a good performance from his side because he believes they owe this to their fans, after the disappointing 1-1 draw with Ecuador in their last World Cup qualifier at the Monumental stadium.
The coach admitted that Di Maria "deserves a place" in the team, and that the Benfica striker is more than capable of living up to the responsibility.
"I loved how he played in the Olympic Games, he is an explosive player, I think his time has arrived, and he deserves an opportunity."
Juventus Fans Divided On Buffon Sale
After the Arabian takeover at Manchester City, Juventus shot-stopper Gianluigi Buffon is one of many European football stars who have been put on the shopping list of the seemingly infinitely wealthy new owners. However, Buffon is a symbol of the Bianconeri and an idol to the fans, particularly when he accepted playing in Serie B when Juve were relegated in 2006, and that right after winning the World Cup with Italy.
Still, there seems to be an unexpected divisiveness among fans of the Old Lady regarding a possible sale of the goalkeeper. On the community website j1897.com, a survey was made and only 43% of the voters would categorically refuse any offer whatsoever for Buffon. Meanwhile, 17% would be available to negotiate about it, and more than 38% would accept an offer of 85 million euros instantly.
That means that 57%, more than half of the voters, do not consider the Italian international star unsellable at any condition.
However, opinions differ on different websites. On another one, VecchiaSignora.com, the fan community clearly state they are strongly against a sale of the player, and even requested the club make an official statement saying Buffon is unsellable.
Still, there seems to be an unexpected divisiveness among fans of the Old Lady regarding a possible sale of the goalkeeper. On the community website j1897.com, a survey was made and only 43% of the voters would categorically refuse any offer whatsoever for Buffon. Meanwhile, 17% would be available to negotiate about it, and more than 38% would accept an offer of 85 million euros instantly.
That means that 57%, more than half of the voters, do not consider the Italian international star unsellable at any condition.
However, opinions differ on different websites. On another one, VecchiaSignora.com, the fan community clearly state they are strongly against a sale of the player, and even requested the club make an official statement saying Buffon is unsellable.
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