microchips

Growing up in a rural area of the country and going to church in an old pentecostal church, there were sermons galore of the End Times.  Most of the time these sermons were not about Heaven and how beautiful and glorious it'll be but more about the conditions on Earth - one of which included the "Mark of the Beast."

As a child, sermons and discussions about the End Times and Tribulation bothered me.  Everyone was looking for "signs."  Israel no longer a nation.  The elimination of currency.  Direct deposit thus doing away with money and the only accepted way to "get paid" though at the time direct deposit didn't have a "name."  The list goes on and on.  I always listened to these sermons and filed things away.  I was warned, "Never take the Mark of the Beast." 

What is the Mark of the Beast?  Back then, it was hypothesized that the Mark was a chip that was put into your hand or head to force everyone to buy or sell with this chip.  There was no more tangible money, so it would make sense.  It made sense to me!  Of course!  Missing persons would be located by the chip with a satellite (GPS appears).  Illegal drugs would diminish.  Cash would be gone... perhaps opening the way for bartering with goods?  This is what I was taught to look for.

I've always been quite neutral on the whole topic 100% respecting the views of those that taught this but at the same time realizing that the technology was coming and imagine the chips used to bring home a pet could bring home a missing child, though it could also start a whole new trend of kidnappers digging out those chips, cutting off hands, etc...  Crazy thoughts.

Then the news today:

WORLD IN BRIEF: Bill targets AIDS patients

From News Services

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Lawmakers in Indonesia’s remote Papua province have thrown their support behind a controversial bill requiring some HIV/AIDS patients to be implanted with microchips —- part of extreme efforts to monitor the disease. Legislator John Manangsang said by implanting small computer chips beneath the skin of “sexually aggressive” patients, authorities would be in a better position to identify, track and ultimately punish those who deliberately infect others. If the proposed legislation gets a majority vote as expected, it will be enacted next month, he said.

Chavez declares vote a mandate

President Hugo Chavez on Monday said his allies’ victories in state and local elections mean Venezuelans want him to press ahead with his socialist policies. Pro-Chavez candidates held on to gubernatorial posts in 17 states in Sunday’s voting, but the oft-battered opposition also gained by winning five of the 23 states, including the two biggest —- Miranda and Zulia —- as well as mayoral races in the two largest cities, Caracas and Maracaibo.

Crisis worse than Carter expected

South African President Kgalema Motlanthe warned Monday that the situation in neighboring Zimbabwe could “implode and collapse” and announced a new round of talks to help resolve the crisis. Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, meeting in South Africa with charity, donor and civil leaders from Zimbabwe, said the crisis appears to be much worse than anything ever imagined.

Refugees victims of looting, shooting

Soldiers went on an overnight looting and shooting spree in a sprawling Congolese refugee camp, stealing from hungry and traumatized people who have fled fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s east, witnesses said Monday. They said one woman was killed by a stray bullet Sunday night in Kibati, a village north of the eastern provincial capital of Goma that has been overrun by about 70,000 refugees.

Ties between countries cut back

North Korea detailed plans Monday to radically curtail ties with South Korea, announcing the end of daily cross-border train service and tours of a historic city in response to what it called Seoul’s “confrontational” policies since conservative, pro-U.S. President Lee Myung-bak took office in Seoul in February. North Korea’s army also said it will expel some South Koreans from a joint industrial zone but stopped short of closing the South Korean-run factories that are a key source of hard currency for the impoverished nation.

Made me think and remember today.