Kevin Haggerty
Special to the Star
Toronto Star

By the time my four-year-old son is swathed in the soft flesh of old age, he will likely find it unremarkable that he and almost everyone he knows will be permanently implanted with a microchip. Automatically tracking his location in real time, it will connect him with databases monitoring and recording his smallest behavioural traits.

Most people anticipate such a prospect with a sense of horrified disbelief, dismissing it as a science-fiction fantasy. The technology, however, already exists. For years humane societies have implanted all the pets that leave their premises with a small identifying microchip. As well, millions of consumer goods are now traced with tiny radio frequency identification chips that allow satellites to reveal their exact location.

A select group of people are already "chipped" with devices that automatically open doors, turn on lights, and perform other low-level miracles. Prominent among such individuals is researcher Kevin Warwick of Reading University in England; Warwick is a leading proponent of the almost limitless potential uses for such chips.

Other users include the patrons of the Baja Beach Club in Barcelona, many of whom have paid about $150 (U.S.) for the privilege of being implanted with an identifying chip that allows them to bypass lengthy club queues and purchase drinks by being scanned. These individuals are the advance guard of an effort to expand the technology as widely as possible.

From this point forward, microchips will become progressively smaller, less invasive, and easier to deploy. Thus, any realistic barrier to the wholesale "chipping" of Western citizens is not technological but cultural. It relies upon the visceral reaction against the prospect of being personally marked as one component in a massive human inventory.

Today we might strongly hold such beliefs, but sensibilities can, and probably will, change . . . (article)

Please meet my newest grandchild, Blaise Ambrose Madrid, born about a month ago to my son and daughter-in-law, Jon and Kelly Madrid. As you can imagine, we are all thrilled to have Boy Blaise among us, as are his big sisters, Audrey and Monica.

P.S. He's a Catholic now. Was baptized two weeks ago. We don't waste time around here.

And boy, is he young! 45 years old, to be exact (born in 1961).

Bishop-elect Daniel Flores has been, until now, a priest of the Diocese of Corpus Christi and rector of St. Mary's seminary in Houston.

Rocco Palmo, over at Whispers in the Loggia, has more info: http://whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com/2006/10/saturday-surprise.html

On my EWTN radio show today, I responded briefly to a couple of the arguments Protestants use in their attempts to defend sola scriptura. In particular, their misuse of 2 Timothy 3:16 regarding theopneustos.

The show broadacasts every Thursday at 3:00 p.m. ET in about 125 major markets, as well as Sirius radio, as well as online. You can listen online here: http://www.ewtn.com/radio/index.asp# (click on the "radio" tab at the top of the page, then click "listen live" and choose your media).

Another post regarding the show is available here: http://www.envoymagazine.com/EnvoyEncore/Detail.asp?BlogID=2573

* * *
One of the questions I answered -- actually, the very last one, with just 90 seconds to go before the show ended -- was on the futile attempt by some Protestants to use 1 Corinthians 4:6 as a prooftext in support of sola scriptura. In my 1992 article that Donna linked to, "Going Beyond," I discuss the reasons why this argument fails.

BTW, the archive copy of today's show is up now, and you can get it here: http://www.ewtn.com/vondemand/audio/seriessearchprog.asp?seriesID=6725&T1=open+line

My paternal grandfather -- who died when I was six months old -- wrote this reflection on chess back in 1952.

The Art in Chess

The California Chess REPORTER Vol. 1 No. 9, April 1952

Rhythm, Harmony, Timing, all have their place in chess just as in music. And the characteristics manifested in the artist are not unlike those found in the true lover of chess.

The young novice starting out on his musical career goes through the usual strenuous routine of mastering the prescribed fundamentals. It is a long, hard struggle. But eventually he arrives at a certain stage where he undergoes a strange change. He sees his work in a different light. His lessons are no longer a task. He has learned to appreciate the beauty of music, the value of art. He needs no coaxing - the music attracts him, fascinates him. He is not content with what he has learned, for this is only the beginning. He must learn more and more. He searches hungrily for new and more difficult roads to success. And as he climbs each step, he stops to survey, pauses to inspect, to iron out flaws, and polish to perfection. Finally, he emerges a musician and artist. His work now has an individual touch. Others copy from him. And his name and masterpieces become immortal in the halls of fame.

So too in chess. At first, it is just another game. Some dabble in it a while, but not long enough to discover its mysterious charms, which are carefully hidden from the casual observer. Chess is like a flower: It demands attention, work, cultivation. Chess belongs to the curious, who love to delve and to pry, to explore regions unknown, to discover what others have overlooked. And as the amateur player begins to feel the thrills, his game begins to take on a deeper meaning. It ceases to be an ordinary game. It no longer is played for relaxation, nor to pass away the time. It becomes, rather, a challenge to the mind and to the imagination. He must explore, he must conquer. The dull routine of life has suddenly changed - a new horizon has appeared. He has something new to live for. A thirst has been created, and he seeks to satisfy it. He must learn more: The hidden traps, the art of sacrifice, the significance of position, the technique. And finally, like the artist, he acquires poise, finesse, personality. He is no longer a mere manipulator of pieces. His moves are radiant with meaning. His men are handled with the skill of precision of Raphael's brush. He strives to make his games as flawless as the painting of the Madonna, or the statue of Venus.

Such is the nature of chess, which will live as long as Art exists, for chess is art.

by Bernard Madrid, Riverside, California

Robert Spencer distills the simple reason for his advocating an unabashed policy of  profiling airline passengers to give greater scrutiny to those (whether Arab, Asian, Caucasian, Hispanic, etc.) who might be Muslim:

Why not? All the September 11 hijackers were Muslims. So were the July 7 London bombers. And the Madrid train bombers of March 2004. And on and on. All the plotters in the recent international airplane hijacking attempt are Muslims. All were working on the basis of Islamic theology. Why must officials continue not to notice this? To ignore this is to give up voluntarily the one thing that may make it possible to spot the perpetrators of a terror attack before it happens, and head it off. In other words, it is suicidal. . . . (article)

“Vote for me, and all your wildest dreams will come true.”

Pedophiles launch political party

It is said that in the 10th century, the 12th and last Imam of the Shiite branch of Islam disappeared. He is said to be hidden by God and will reappear at the end of history to lead an era of Islamic justice. Actions by, and Rumors about, Iran's president have renewed interest in the 12th Imam. 

The ethical storm over abortions has been renewed as it emerged that terminations are being carried out for minor, treatable birth defects.

Late terminations have been performed in recent years because the babies had club feet, official figures show. (article)

It will shake your faith in everything you thought you knew about art.

Among the high-level Vatican chiefs several heads appear poised to roll. One was removed a couple of days ago: Cardinal Michele Giordano. The U.K.'s Telegraph reports . . .

The Pope has started a major reshuffle of the Vatican's most senior clergy, replacing a notorious cardinal who has faced allegations of loan sharking in the past.

Cardinal Michele Giordano, 75, the Archbishop of Naples, has been asked to retire and will be replaced by Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, who is currently in charge of the Vatican's evangelisation department. Many cardinals serve long after the official retirement age of 75, but the Vatican said Cardinal Giordano must not stretch the age limit.

After a year of calm, the Pope is now moving quickly and decisively to clear up several long-standing problems. Last week, he barred Father Marcial Maciel, the Mexican founder of the Legionaries of Christ order, from appearing in public after allegations of sexual abuse.

The removal of Cardinal Giordano has "started the changing of the guard at the top of the Italian Church and at the Holy See," said the Italian daily Corriere della Sera.

Cardinal Giordano was charged in 1999 with conspiracy and loan sharking with Church funds. Prosecutors said he had passed over £300,000 to his brother which was then lent at extortionate interest rates to poor people in Naples. . . . (article)

If the rumours among Vatican watchers are to be believed, it appears that several other Vatican prelates, including Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano, are also headed for the  guillotine quite soon.

For example:

"'I kept thinking of the Energizer Bunny, because it kept going and going and going, and not in a good way,' said James Rocchi, a film critic for CBS 5 television in San Francisco and the online outlet Cinematical."

and

“A pulpy page-turner in its original incarnation as a huge international bestseller has become a stodgy, grim thing . . .”

and

"Retarded and crushingly dull."

and

“'I didn't like it very much. I thought it was almost as bad as the book. Tom Hanks was a zombie, thank goodness for Ian McKellen. It was overplayed, there was too much music and it was much too grandiose,' said Peter Brunette, critic for the US daily The Boston Globe.”

and

“'Nothing really works. It's not suspenseful. It's not romantic. It's certainly not fun,' said Stephen Schaefer of the Boston Herald.”

That is the opinion of some who are studying Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's recent personal letter to President George Bush in which Ahmadinejad invited Bush to convert to Islam.

He later commented to the Iranian press that, "The letter was an invitation to monotheism and justice, which are common to all divine prophets. If the call is responded positively, there will be no more problems to be solved," added the president.

The president said that the letter actually contained a clear message of invitation to human beliefs, adding that its response will determine the future.

Some folks at Free Republic and World Net Daily have speculated that this invitation to become Muslim immediately precedes a declaration of war.

That's certainly an intriguing theory. The question is, how could Iran viably prosecute a war against the U.S.? The only answer I can think of is that they'd detonate one or more nukes within the U.S. and then demand that America not attack or else there would be additional nukes set off in other countries.

Maybe this is why Ahmadinejad has been running his mouth lately about Israel being "wiped off the map" and that it will soon "cease to exist."

Something wicked this way comes.