Philologos
Bible Prophecy Research
Title: Mark
Submitted by: research-bpr@philologos.org
Date: May 30, 1998
Update: 2004
URL: http://philologos.org/bpr/files/m002a.htm

Mark

[Contributor's comments in brackets]

The word "mark" in Greek means to literally cut into the body, to physically etch or carve. [Tattoo? Also, sin is an archer's word meaning "to miss the mark." For an excellent treatise on tattooing please see: To Tattoo or Not to Tattoo A Christian Response.]

Throughout the centuries, Satan worshipers and other pagans have used marks on the body, especially on the forehead and hand, to identify themselves with their god or goddess or false teaching.

In the days of the early Church, the Roman and Greek worship of Mithra was a strong competitor to Christianity...the Mithra neophyte, or candidate, would be given a secret name...followed by a mark on the forehead. The mark consisted of being "signed" on the forehead with a hot iron. This event was followed by ecstatic dancing in a symbolic circle, offerings of incense, riotous drinking and a ritual of free sex.

It is a proven fact that the New Age is a religion based on occult symbology. The words symbol and devil come from the same Greek word.

Already New Age propaganda touts the Mark as a sign of the spiritually and mentally advanced person. An ad in New Age magazines invites people to write in for information. The picture in the ad is of a man with a glittering, lighted star emblazoned on his forehead.

Elizabeth Clare Prophet's false "Christ," Count Saint Germain, has a name written on his forehead - VICTORY. She says he is now assisted by Master Jesus in his work on earth and in the invisible spirit world. He supposedly seals enlightened human beings in their foreheads.

New Age Virgin Mary of Medjugorje says: "I am the Sign of the Living God. I place my sign on the foreheads of my children."

In today's New Age and Hindu philosophies, the body is made up of certain energy points or chakras. Two important chakras are the one in the forehead and the other in the palm of the right hand. The forehead chakra is called the third eye or Ajna Center or Agni Center. Agni was the Hindu male fire god who was the sexual partner of the Mother Goddess. Symbolically Agni was represented as fire from heaven: lightning. Ancient peoples later began to call him by his actual name, Lucifer. When you take Agni's Mark you are really taking Lucifer's Mark. Jesus described Lucifer: "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven." (Luke 10:18)

(Mystery Mark of the New Age, Texe Marrs)

"Set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof."--Ezekiel 9:4

"This mark was to be put on these faithful ones for their protection when the faithless were to be destroyed. It showed that they belonged to God. The allusion is to a very ancient custom. In Egypt a runaway slave was freed from his master if he went to the temple and gave himself up to the god, receiving certain marks upon his person to denote his consecration to the deity there worshiped. Cain had a mark put on him for his protection, as an evidence of God's promise to spare his life notwithstanding his wickedness (Gen 4:15). To this day all Hindoos have some sort of mark upon their forehead signifying their consecration to their gods. Several passages in the book of Revelation represent the saints as having a mark on their foreheads. The followers of the 'beast' are also said to be marked in the forehead or in the hands. The Romans marked their soldiers in the hand and their slaves in the forehead. The woman in scarlet, whom John saw, had a name written on her forehead.

____________________

"They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children."--Deuteronomy 32:5

"The spot or blot here spoken of is said to be something that does not belong to the children of God. 'Their spot is not of his children.' Allusion is supposed to be made here to the marks which idolaters put upon their persons, particularly on their foreheads, in honor of their deities. It is a very ancient practice, and probably existed before Moses' time. Forbes in his Oriental Memoirs, says that in India different idolatrous sects have different marks. These are specially common among the two principal sects, the worshipers of Siva and the worshipers of Vishnoo. The marks are horizontal and perpendicular lines; crescents or circles; or representations of leaves, eyes, and other objects. They are impressed on the forehead by the officiating Brahmin with a composition of sandal-wood dust and oil, or the ashes of cow-dung and tumeric. The colors are red, black, white, and yellow. In many cases these marks are renewed daily.

"Zophar may have referred to a similar custom when he spoke to Job about lifting up his face without spot (Job 11:15). Elphaz also spoke of lifting up the face to God (Job 22:26). Job himself subsequently denied that any blot was on his hands (Job 31:7). In the Revelation of St. John there are several references to idolatrous marks on the forehead and hands."

(Manners & Customs of the Bible, James M. Freeman)

Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary:

1 mark

1. a boundary land
2. a conspicuous object serving as a guide for travelers; an object of attack, ridicule, or abuse; specific.; a victim of a swindle; a standard of performance, quality, or condition: norm
3. sign, indication; an impression made on something; a distinguishing trait or quality; a symbol used for identification or indication of ownership; cross made in place of a signature; postmark; a symbol used to represent a teacher's estimate of a student's work or conduct; esp. grade; a figure registering a point or level reached or achieved: record.
4. attention, notice; importance, distinction; a lasting or strong impression; an assessment of merits: rating.

2 mark

1. to fix or trace out bounds or limits of; to plot the course of: chart; to set apart by or as if by a line or boundary.
2. to designate as if by a mark; to make or leave a mark on; to furnish with natural marks; to label so as to indicate price or quality; to make notations in or on; to make note of in writing; register

3 mark

1. any of various old European units of weight used esp. for gold and silver; esp: a unit equal to about 8 ounces.
2. a unit of value; an old English unit; any one of various old Scandinavian or German units of value; specif; a unit and corresponding silver coin of the 16th century worth 1/2 taler; see money table; markka.

____________________

Websters:
Money Table:
NAME: mark--see deutsche mark

NAME: deutsche mark
SYMBOL: DM
SUBDIVISIONS: 100 pfennigs
COUNTRY: West Germany

"West Germany's political and economic rebuilding began in earnest during the spring of 1948. Economic reconstruction came first. It began with the currency reform of June 21, 1948, which replaced the Nazi currency (Reichsmark) with a new unit, the Deutsche mark...as the new monetary unit was named...The Marshall Plan (1948-1952) played a decisive role in German economic development after World War II. It spurred West Germany's economic recovery, strengthened the economy's capitalistic structure, and provided the economic security necessary to insure the success of democratic-parliamentary government. It also restored West Germany to the European community, since the participation of sixteen other nations in the Marshall Plan took the German problem out of the exclusive control of the great powers."

(Collier's Encyclopedia, Germany)

____________________

The new Euro sign (like the "$" sign in USA).

The European Union (EU) is in the midst (1998) of changing over to one currency. In the May-June, 1995 issue of "European Monetary Union": "The only thing that can make monetary union happen is the support of Europe's economic locomotive--Germany." The driving force underpining this new currency is the German deutsche mark and the EU's central bank is housed in Frankfurt's Euro tower.

Another interesting thing noted in "European Monetary Union": "From its infancy the EU has tried a variety of ways to eliminate currency fluctuations between its member states. In 1972 the EU created an embryonic European Monetary System (EMS) and called it 'the snake in the tunnel' or 'le serpent.' The system proved to have a shorter life-span than the average python. Ten currencies joined, but sterling was floated out within months, followed by the Irish and Danish currencies and then by Italy. Even France, a vocal advocate of the system, took a year out. Only five out of ten lasted the course by the time the snake emitted its last hiss in 1977."

____________________

"It is fascinating to examine the new European Currency Unit (ECU). In the past, most countries placed an engraving of a political leader or national symbol on their currency. However, the European Community planners chose a new symbol for their new ECU--a woman riding a beast with two horns.

[There are two pictures supplied with this book: one shows a 5 ECU note and the other shows a stamp of the European Parliament. The stamp is much easier to see and shows a woman, holding onto one horn, riding a bull who has flowers between his horns. The bull is on the sea as there is a dolphin beneath him in the water. The woman holds a long "scarf" billowing out behind her with one end being upheld by a cherub. Running along the bottom of the stamp are the words: 2nd Election European Parliament. The 5 ECU note shows a much smaller outline of the woman on the bull to the left of the unit.]

"The conscious motivation for the European politicians to choose this particular symbol arises from the ancient Greek myth about Europa and Zeus, the leader of the pagan gods. This ancient myth describes the origin of Europe. According to mythology Zeus wanted to seduce Europa, a beautiful maiden who would have nothing to do with him.

["And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose."--Genesis 6:1,2 ??]

"He transformed himself into a beautiful bull that later became the pet of Europa. One day, when she was riding the bull he took her across the sea to Crete, revealed himself as Zeus and seduced her...This same symbol was also engraved on the new stamp commemorating the election of the European Parliament...The Brooks Instrument Company of the Netherlands was featured in a recent European magazine noting that it had received the coveted Quality Award issued by the European Standards Committee. After being audited in seven areas of financial health and environmental concern this company could now display the quality symbol on its letterhead, packaging and product. The Quality Symbol is a woman riding the beast with two horns. If a company wants to be a supplier to a government of the European Community one of the first questions will be, 'Do you have the quality Mark?'"

(Prince of Darkness, Grant Jeffrey, 1994)

____________________

Europa (the daughter of the king of Sidon)

(This story...is taken entirely from a poem of the third-century Alexandrian poet Moschus, by far the best account of it.)

"Up in heaven one spring morning as he idly watched the earth, Zeus suddenly saw a charming spectacle. Europa had waked early, troubled...by a dream...of two Continents who each in the shape of a woman tried to possess her, Asia saying that she had given her birth and therefore owned her, and the other, as yet nameless, declaring that Zeus would give the maiden to her.

"Once awake from this strange vision which had come at dawn...Europa decided not to try to go to sleep again, but to summon her companions, girls born in the same year as herself and all of noble birth, to go out with her to the lovely blooming meadows near the sea. Here was their favorite meeting place, whether they wanted to dance or bathe their fair bodies at the river mouth or gather flowers.

"This time all had brought baskets, knowing that the flowers were now at their perfection. Europa's was of gold, exquisitely chased with figures which showed, oddly enough, the story of Io, her journeys in the shape of a cow, the death of Argus, and Zeus lightly touching her with his divine hand and changing her back into a woman. It was, as may be perceived, a marvel worth gazing upon, and had been made by no less a personage than Hephaestus, the celestial workman of Olympus.

"Lovely as the basket was, there were flowers as lovely to fill it with, sweet-smelling narcissus and hyacinths and violets and yellow crocus, and most radiant of all, the crimson splendor of the wild rose. The girls gatherred them delightedly, wandering here and there over the meadow, each one a maiden fairest among the fair; yet even so, Europa shone out among them as the Goddess of Love outshines the sister Graces. And it was that very Goddess of Love who brought about what next happened. As Zeus in heaven watched the pretty scene, she who alone can conquer Zeus--along with her son, the mischievous boy Cupid--shot one of her shafts into his heart, and that very instant he fell madly in love with Europa. Even though Hera was away, he thought it well to be cautious, and before appearing to Europa he changed himself into a bull. Not such a one as you might see in a stall or grazing in a field, but one beautiful beyond all bulls that ever were, bright chestnut in color, with a silver circle on his brow and horns like the crescent of the young moon. He seeemed so gentle as well as so lovely that the girls were not frightened at his coming, but gathered around to caress him and to breathe the heavenly fragrance that came from him, sweeter even than that of the flowery meadow. It was Europa he drew toward, and as she gently touched him, he lowed so musically, no flute could give forth a more melodious sound.

"Then he lay down before her feet and seemed to show her his broad back, and she cried to the others to come with her and mount him.

For surely he will bear us on his back,
He is so mild and dear and gentle to behold.
He is not like a bull, but like a good, true man,
Except he cannot speak.

"Smiling she sat down on his back, but the others, quick though they were to follow her, had no chance. The bull leaped up and at full speed rushed to the seashore and then not into, but over, the wide water. As he went the waves grew smooth before him and a whole procession rose up from the deep and accompanied him--the strange sea-gods, Nereids riding upon dolphins, and Tritons blowing their horns, and the mighty Master of the Sea himself, Zeus's own brother.

"Europa, frightened equally by the wondrous creatures she saw and the moving waters all around, clung with one hand to the bull's great horn and with the other caught up her purple dress to keep it dry, and the winds

Swelled out the deep folds even as a sail
Swells on a ship, and ever gently thus
They wafted her.

"No bull could this be, thought Europa, but most certainly a god; and she spoke pleadingly to him, begging him to pity her and not leave her in some strange place all alone. He spoke to her in answer and showed her she had guessed rightly what he was. She had no cause to fear, he told her. He was Zeus, greatest of gods, and all he was doing was from love of her. He was taking her to Crete, his own island, where his mother had hidden him from Cronus when he was born, and there she would bear him

Glorious sons whose sceptres shall hold sway
Over all men on earth.

"Everything happened, of course, as Zeus had said. Crete came into sight; they landed, and the Seasons, the gatekeepers of Olympus, arrayed her for her bridal. Her sons were famous men, not only in this world but in the next--where two of them, Minos and Rhadamanthus, were rewarded for thier justice upon the earth by being made the judges of the dead. But her own name remains the best known of all."

(Mythology, Edith Hamilton [there is a picture accompanying the story entitled "The Rape of Europa.")

[I have seen other narratives where Zeus is said to have been a white bull, Europa was said to be the king of Tyre's daughter or Europa was the daughter of Agenor, king of Phoenicia. (Tyre and Sidon/Zidon were about 20 miles apart and both in Phoenicia.) See Jezebel, another Tyrian/Sidonian princess.]

____________________

Europa web site logo

The European Union's server is called "Europa." When you log onto their site, your read: "The Parliament, the Council, the Commission, the Court of Justice, the Court of Auditors and other bodies of the European Union (EU) invite you to their server." (http://europa.eu.int)

"And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars;"--Revelation 12:1 The parallels between this counterfeit and the Bible are striking.

In March, 1999 A&E showed a program called "All About Money." Here are a few excerpts:

-----begin-----

Narrator:
[After WWII and a period of hyper-inflation] a change in Germany's fortunes was secretly in the works. It is called "Operation Bird Dog." To get Germany moving again, new German money is designed, engraved and printed in the US. The new currency, 500 tons of it, is delivered in wooden crates to the western zones of Germany. What really arrived, though, was a world monetary system. Currencies like Germany's were now pegged to the value of the dollar and the dollar was backed by gold.

Amity Shlaes, Wall Street Journal:
"We think Word War II ended in 1945, but Germans have a different date."

Narrator:
The Germans called it "Day X." On Sunday, June 20, 1948 a momentous radio broadcast asks all Germans to bring in what reichsmarks they have...to exchange for a new money--the deutsche mark...

To Germans, "Day X" was a miracle. It layed the groundwork of Germany's climb to the top of Europe's economy. And the prized symbol of this tranformation is their beloved German mark.

Fifty years after the deutsche mark's auspicious appearance, its replacement, the Euro, is being tested...

____________________

Narrator:
E-money entrepeneurs are hoping to solve the problem of safe-guards with even more electronics.

Salesman at trade show:
"The golden rule in banking is know thy customer."

Narrator:
Know thy customer and then scan their eye-balls into a computer. Your eyes are like fingerprints and by recording them a company can confirm your identity...and your bank balance. But how far will it go? Pretty far actually.

Neil Marcous, Electronic Data Systems
[90% of the nation's traffic in electronic payments passes through EDS.]
"You'll simply have the chip embedded, you'll do a retina scan or some other kind of bio-scan, you'll validate who you are, you'll have your information, it'll transmit and you can conduct all your business literally against an electronic ledger somewhere."

Narrator:
Did you say embedded?

Neil Marcous:
"Well, it could be embedded in a number of places. For the sake of artistic license, let's say it was embedded under your skin above your left eyebrow."

Narrator:
As money continues to evolve, it'll need to be just as useful as ever, whether we carry it in our wallet, or in our forehead.

To some, money is an extravagant evil; most consider it an absolute necessity. All this paper seems to keep the world functioning even if it isn't worth its weight in gold. Heck, it may not even be legit.

But after 3,000 years nothing, not even a catastrophe, could get us to give it up.

In the beginning of May [1998], government officials of the European Union will decide who will participate at the Economic and Currency Reform. At that time, it will be determined which countries will be first for the new currency.

At the junction of this truly historic event, few take notice that the creation of the new Europe is strongly influenced by the Roman Catholic church. For many years, Roman Catholic European Commission President Jacques Delors has prepared this new Europe. His closest advisers are Jesuit priests. Also, German Chancellor Helmut Kohl (Catholic) and French President Jacques Chirac (Catholic) keep the new Europe policy solidly in their hand.

In 1983, during a visit to Austria, the pope expresseed his displeasure against "national and artificial borders in Europe."

The pope said, "Europeans must do everything in their power to overcome any threatening international confrontations by establishing a united Europe from the Atlantic to the Ural mountains." One has to realize that this request is to be understood with the background in mind that the Roman Catholic Church is not only a religious, but also a political body.

Rome still believes it must rule on Earth. The church's hierarchy with the pope as the royal leader is the representative of Christ on Earth [they claim].

The European flag with its twelve stars in a circle on blue is a Catholic creation. Already in 1958, Archbishop Montini dedicated a 20-meter tall Europe Madonna in honor of Pope Paul VI, on the north Italian mountain of Serenissima. The official name: "Our Beloved Lady, Ruler of Europe."

Catholic teachings view Mary as the Biblical figure described in Revelation 12:1.

Another aspect in the development of Europe must also be mentioned here: Several influential groups, such as the Templars, still believe today that Europe in the third Millennium will become a theocratic unity state.

At the head, there shall be a priest-king, originating from France, who is supposed to be a direct descendant from God. In this connection, the statement by the French President Jacques Chirac is significant. On the evening of his election victory, on May 7, 1995, he enthusiastically proclaimed, "France shall again be the guiding star for all the people of the world and that is her calling!"

The stage for the appearance of such a spiritual leader for Europe is definitely prepared.

(excerpt from Midnight Call Magazine (April 1998) of an article paraphrased from the newsletter TOPIC, January 1998)

____________________

3/25/98

11 EU states in countdown to monetary union Ian Geoghegan Reuters

Brussels - Eleven European Union nations were declared fit Wednesday to launch a single currency that the bloc hopes will guarantee Europe its place among the world's greatest economic powers.

"This is an important epoch that will decisively influence our country, the European Union and the world," said German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, the architect of Europe's economic and monetary union (EMU).

French President Jacques Chirac called the blessing bestowed on the 11 EU nations chosen for the single currency by the European Commission and the European Monetary Institute in Frankfurt the start of a new era.

"We are giving ourselves a monetary tool which...will be one of the most important in the world," he told reporters.

In two separate reports, the bloc's executive commission and the EMI said Belgium, Germany, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal and Finland had made enough economic progress to join EMU's first wave, although the EMI voice lingering doubts.

The final decision on which nations will be in EMU's founding group will be taken by EU leaders at a special summit in Brussels on May 1-2.

German Finance Minister Theo Waigel said...that a stability culture had already developed to an impressive degree in Europe, but added that Germany, the bedrock of Europe's financial strength, would continue to stress the sustainability of convergence in the EMU.

New Money for a New Year
Agreeing to a single European currency is one thing; history is another.

LONDON, Dec. 28, 1998 The last people successfully to impose a single currency on Europe were the Romans. Two thousand years ago, their coins of brass and silver circulated from Rome through France and England and across the Mediterranean basin to the Middle East. Now, Europe is ready to try again. After the New Year holiday, 290 million people in eleven countries will go to work and learn to live with (and hopefully to love) a brand new kind of money - the euro.

Jonathan Miller
http://www.msnbc.com/news/225696.asp

In Bullinger's Book, "How to Enjoy the Bible", he talks about a bunch of words whose meaning down through the years has been changed by man. He provides a definition for them based on a multitude of Greek papyri mostly from the 1st and 2nd Centuries that has been found via archaelogic digs in Egypt. These papyri are all different kinds of everyday household documents or documents from tombs ... business letters, love letters, contracts, estimates, certificates, agreements, accounts, bills of sale, mortgages, school exercises, receipts, bribes, charms, litanies, tales, magical literature, pawn tickets and whatever.

Rev 13:16-17
16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a MARK in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. (KJV)

STRONG'S
5480 charagma (khar'-ag-mah); from the same as 5482; a scratch or etching, i.e. stamp (as a badge of servitude), or scupltured figure (statue): KJV-- graven, mark.

5482 charax (khar'-ax); from charasso (to sharpen to a point; akin to 1125 through the idea of scratching); a stake, i.e. (by implication) a palisade or rampart (military mound for circumvallation in a siege): KJV-- trench.

THAYER'S
5480 charagma-
1) a stamp, an imprinted mark a) used of the mark stamped on the forehead or the right hand as the badge of the followers of the Antichrist b) the mark branded upon horses
2) a thing carved, a sculpture, a graven work; used of idolatrous images

5482 charax-
1) a pale or stake, a palisade
2) a palisade or rampart; pales between which earth, stones, trees, and timbers are heaped and packed together

BULLINGER'S
Charagma, a mark. In the papyri this word (1) is always used of a mark connected with the emperor and (2) it always contains his name or effigy, and the year of his reign. (3) It was necessary for buying and selling. (4) It was technically known as charagma.

It is found on all sorts of documents, even on "a bill of sale." In Acts 17:29 it is rendered "graven." Elsewhere it is used only of the "mark" of the Beast. (Scriptures omitted) He will be the Overlord in that day !

(private email correspondence)

ARITHMETIC. We owe a debt of gratitude to the Arabs and Hindus of 5,000 years ago, because they devised their system of numbering and counting. These Oriental peoples actually forged the most useful everyday tool of modern civilization--one tool we cannot get along without--arithmetic.

The World Depends on Numbers. If everybody suddenly lost the power to count and to use numbers, all business and industry would be paralyzed. A great hush would fall upon the world. Telephones would cease to ring. Money would be worthless--no one would know what it meant--and cash registers would be silent. Important letters would never arrive at their destinations, for railroads, airplanes, motor cars, and ships would stop running. Calendars and clocks would go to the junk pile, for they would no longer "make sense." Our entire system of international trade would have to be discarded, and people would go back to bartering and trying to count on their fingers and toes.

Arithmetic, the accurate, practical science of numbers, is the one tool which every person must have, in order to adjust himself to modern living. It is not a subject to be studied for a few years, then forgotten. It is almost as necessary, every day, as food and air and clothing. Farmers, bankers, doctors, engineers, baseball players, housewives, in fact, everyone, no matter what his daily work is, uses his knowledge of arithmetic.

(The Wonderland of Knowledge, 1965)

____________________

Arabic numeral: one of the number symbols 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.--Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary

4/12/99 (excerpt)

Free Lunches Offered for Tattoo
by David Kligman
Associated Press Writer

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) Some people will do anything for a free burrito.

A Mexican restaurant offered a lifetime of free lunches to anyone willing to get a tattoo of its logo, Jimmy the Corn Man, a sombrero-wearing mariachi boy riding a blazing corncob. Just show the cashier the tattoo - any size, on any part of the body - and get a free meal.

Since word of the promotion got out six months ago, 38 people have braved the tattoo needle for a permanent coupon at Casa Sanchez.

-----edit-----

Tattooing For Jesus

"Reporter Douglas Todd of The Vancouver Sun visited the Vineyard Christian Fellowship in Langley, British Columbia, and found that tattoos are the newest 'in thing' for Vineyard Christians. Amy Bonde, who is a staff member at the Vineyard in Langley, has a large Celtic cross tattooed on the small of her back. Encircling the cross are Hebrew letters that allegedly mean, 'I am my beloved’s, and he is mine.' Bonde says the tattoo signifies that she looks upon Jesus Christ as her 'lover.' Another Vineyard member, Peter Davyduck, has a tattoo of the word 'SIN' on his ankle. He says this is a message to 'judgmental Christians that everyone is a sinner and should be accepted in spite of it.'

"The Vancouver Sun report notes that the tattooing represents 'a sign of a seismic shift in evangelical Christianity, which has been associated for most of this century with harsh rules about controlling one's body: no dancing, no long hair on men, no pants on women, no drinking, no dancing, no jewelry and certainly NO TATTOOING.'"

Source: http://wayoflife.org/~dcloud/fbns/tattooingfor.htm

7/30/99

Concern over microchip implants
New technology getting under some people's skin
By Jon E. Dougherty
c 1999 WorldNetDaily.com

Researchers say the technology is currently available to implant biometric devices in human beings, which can be monitored by government satellites and utilized by private industry. In fact some developers are currently attempting to bring the technology to the public and private sector.

Though not yet generally available to the public, trials of sub-skin implants have been underway for nearly a year. For instance, The London Times reported in October 1998, "... Film stars and the children of millionaires are among 45 people, including several Britons, who have been approached and fitted with the chips (called the Sky Eye) in secret tests."

Critics, however, are worried about the increased support such devices are receiving because of the inherent risk to individual privacy. They contend that several governments, including the U.S., possess the ability to monitor such devices and, as a consequence, the people who have them -- even though they may not be wanted for a crime, listed as a missing person, or considered dangerous in any way.

A recent study of microchip implantation technology, written by Elaine M. Ramish for the Franklin Pierce Law Center, examined at length the ethical issue of privacy, which engulfs every debate surrounding implanted biometric devices. The study provided details about current research and development as well as marketing plans developers are likely to use to "sell" the idea to a generally skeptical American public and U.S. Congress.

In her study, though, Ramish said she believes the implementation of such devices will eventually become a reality despite their controversial identification role. But, she said, the concept is not a new one; other researchers have advocated the widespread use of biometric identification devices as early as 1967.

"Although microchip implantation might be introduced as a voluntary procedure, in time, there will be pressure to make it mandatory," Ramish wrote in her research paper entitled, "Time Enough? Consequences of Human Microchip Implantation."[1]

"A national identification system via microchip implants could be achieved in two stages," she said. "Upon introduction as a voluntary system, the microchip implantation will appear to be palatable. After there is a familiarity with the procedure and a knowledge of its benefits, implantation would be mandatory." Indeed, of the test cases in Great Britain, so far benefactors have reported no negative consequences.

Ramish believes that "legislative protection(s) for individual rights" should be enacted by Congress and signed into law before any such devices could be brought to market.

In her paper, Ramish said recent polls have found that if guaranteed certain privacy protections, the number of Americans who would be willing to accept a medical information implant "rose by 11 percent." Such tracking devices have already been available to pet owners for nearly ten years, and biometric devices such as fingerprint scanners are quietly making their way into the public sector.

Ramish noted that a few U.S. firms were already developing, or had developed, implantable biometric devices capable of "read only, read-write and read-write with tracking" abilities. IBM, Hughes Aircraft, and Dallas Semiconductor are among several firms Ramish said currently were working to develop such systems, but none of them returned phone calls for comment from WorldNetDaily.

A spokesman for Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, also declined to comment on the possibility that someday Congress may be faced with the decision to mandate the implementation of such technology.

Though Smith is head of the House Ethics Committee -- a committee that normally examines only the ethical behavior of other House members -- his spokesman declined to say how Smith personally felt about the implementation of biometric technology in humans.

"He (Smith) has never addressed that issue," the spokesman said.

A spokesman for Democratic presidential nominee candidate and former U.S. Senator Bill Bradley told WorldNetDaily his boss, too, had never considered the possibility nor thought about the ramifications of personal privacy.

But George Getz, the communications director for the Libertarian Party, said party director Steve Dasbach "has considered the issue of privacy on many occasions."

"In fact," he said, "that's one issue we consistently address as Libertarians."

Getz said to the extent that this procedure is voluntary, "there certainly shouldn't be a law against it, because Libertarians believe that individuals, rather than the government, should have sole control over their own bodies."

"But the concept of government-mandated microchip implants is reprehensible," he added.

Getz said he believes the inevitability of such a device lies in "the government's ability to make living a normal life without one impossible." Though the chip implantation procedure might legally remain "voluntary," he said it's very likely that government at all levels would eventually force everyone to have one.

"After all, the government has never forced anyone to have a driver license," he said. "But try getting along without one, when everyone from your local banker to the car rental man to the hotel operator to the grocery store requires one in order for you to take advantage of their services."

"That amounts to a de facto mandate," he said. "If the government can force you to surrender your fingerprints to get a drivers license, why can't it force you to get a computer chip implant? These are differences in degree, not in kind -- which is why it's essential to fight government privacy invasions from the outset."

A spokesman for the House Science and Technology Committee, who requested anonymity, told WorldNetDaily that indeed the committee has "looked into the question of biometrics and the use of such technology on society." He said at present, however, no legislation requiring or permitting the use of such devices in humans is being considered in the House.

"We've looked at the issue across the board -- whether to fight fraud, fight crime, improve safety," he said, "but as far as this particular use of biometrics, I don't think we've ever really addressed it."

Not everyone is opposed to the idea, however.

Amitai Etzioni, Director of a group known as the Communitarian Network and a professor of Sociology at George Washington University, believes there are definite benefits to society using biometric technology.

In an article published recently,[2] Etzioni -- who has written extensively on the issue of privacy -- said, "Opposition to these new technologies is particularly troubling given that the benefits are considerable."

"Once biometric devices are more fully developed, and as unit costs decline ... a person may forget his password, pin number and access code, and leave his ID card and keys at home," wrote Etzioni.

A spokesman on science and technology issues at the Communitarian Network, who also requested anonymity, confirmed that the organization -- and Mr. Etzioni specifically -- "has done extensive work on researching the benefits to society of biometric technology."

"Communities ... stand to reap considerable benefits," said Etzioni. "Once biometric devices are widely deployed, they will make it much more difficult for the estimated 330,000 criminals to remain on the lam. These fugitives not only avoid trial and incarceration but also often commit additional crimes while they roam the country with little concern."

The group also expresses support for all forms of biometric technology -- from scanners to implants -- as a way to increase benefits to child care facilities, decrease losses to businesses, and protect Americans who now fall prey to identity theft.

Jon E. Dougherty is a senior writer and columnist for WorldNetDaily, as well as a morning co-host of Daybreak America.

[Emphasis added.]

(link no longer active: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_dougherty/19990730_xnjdo_concern_ov.shtml)

------

[1] Time Enough? Consequences of Human Microchip Implantation
Elaine M. Ramesh
http://www.fplc.edu/risk/vol8/fall/ramesh.htm (107k)

[2] Biometrics Are Coming! Biometrics Are Coming!
by Amitai Etzioni
(http://www.intellectualcapital.com/issues/issue225/item4244.asp; link no longer active; please contact us if URL is redirected to a questionable site).

U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, http://patents.uspto.gov/cgi-bin/ifetch4?ENG+PATBIB-ALL+0+946309+0+
7+25907+OF+1+1+1+PN%2f5%2c878%2c155

United States Patent 5,878,155
Heeter Mar. 2, 1999

Method for verifying human identity during electronic sale transactions Abstract

A method is presented for facilitating sales transactions by electronic media. A bar code or a design is tattooed on an individual. Before the sales transaction can be consummated, the tattoo is scanned with a scanner. Characteristics about the scanned tattoo are compared to characteristics about other tattoos stored on a computer database in order to verify the identity of the buyer. Once verified, the seller may be authorized to debit the buyer's electronic bank account in order to consummate the transaction. The seller's electronic bank account may be similarly updated.

Background of the Invention

1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to the identification of humans. More particularly, the present invention relates to the application of invisible, indelible tattoos on humans for purposes of identification in order to conduct monetary and credit transactions in a secure manner. 

http://164.195.100.11/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=/netahtml/
srchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1='5878155'.WKU.&OS=PN/5878155&RS=PN/5878155

Inventors: Heeter; Thomas W.
(55 Lyerly, Houston, TX 77022).
Appl. No.: 709,471
Filed: Sept. 5, 1996

Correspondence from BPR mailing list:

It is interesting to compare the black horse [in Revelation 6]. Why are there scales, when the *wheat* and *barley* are measured by volume? Awfully expensive items; I wonder if these grains symbolize two distinct groups of people. Hmmm. The unit of currency is the denarius, of which the word "dinar" evolved.

[Rev 6:5,6 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.]

Introducing the New Islamic Dinar and Durham: http://www.murabitun.org/WITO/intro.html

"Abu Bakr ibn Abi Maryam reported that he heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say: 'A time is certainly coming over mankind in which there will be nothing [left] which will be of use save a dinar and a dirham.'" (The Musnad of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal)

____________________

"The Revelation undertook to mention them and attached many judgements to them, for example zakat, marriage, and hudud, etc., therefore within the Revelation they have to have a reality and specific measure for assessment [of zakat, etc.] upon which its judgements may be based rather than on the non-shari'i [other coins].

"Know that there is consensus [ijma] since the beginning of Islam and the age of the Companions and the Followers that the dirham of the shari'ah is that of which ten weigh seven mithqals [weight of the dinar] of gold. ... The weight of a mithqal of gold is seventy-two grains of barley, so that the dirham which is seven-tenths of it is fifty and two-fifths grains. All these measurements are firmly established by consensus." Ibn Khaldun, Al-Muqaddimah

This new gold standard currency is of course, a specific measure of gold by weight.

S.C.A.N. INDIVIDUAL MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY F.A.Q. (Frequently Asked Questions). 

Available at: http://www.networkusa.org/fingerprint/page5a/fp-chip-faq.html

Digital Angel (TM) Technology that cares

Applied Digital Solutions has recently acquired the patent rights to a new technology that we believe will revolutionize e-business security, emergency location and medical monitoring. That technology has been named Digital Angel™.

ADS is actively seeking joint venture partners to develop and market this technology. We expect to produce a prototype of the device by the end of 2000. We believe Digital Angel™ technology, in all of its applications, has a multi-billion marketing potential.

Basic Features of Digital Angel™

The Digital Angel™ transceiver can be implanted just under the skin or hidden inconspicuously on or within valuable personal belongings and priceless works of art. When implanted within the human body, the transceiver is powered electromechanically through the movement of muscles. It can be activated either by the "wearer" or by a remote monitoring facility. The device also can monitor certain biological functions of the human body - such as heart rate - and send a distress signal to a monitoring facility when it detects a medical emergency.

Limitations of Competing Technologies

While a number of other tracking and monitoring technologies have been patented and marketed in the past, they are all unsuitable for the widespread tracking, recovery and identification of people due to a variety of limitations, including unwieldy size, maintenance requirements, insufficient or inconvenient power-supply and activation difficulties. For the first time in the history of location and monitoring technology, Digital Angel™ overcomes these limitations.

Potential Uses of Digital Angel™

Although still in the early developmental stage, we believe Digital Angel™ could have an array of beneficial potential applications: provide a tamper- proof means of locating and identifying individuals for e-business and e- commerce security; locate individuals, including children, who are lost or who have been abducted; monitor the medical conditions of at-risk patients; track and locate military, diplomatic and other essential government personnel; determine the location or the authenticity of valuable property; track the whereabouts of wilderness sports enthusiasts (mountain climbers, hikers, skiers, etc.).

http://www.digitalangel.net/

[The following is an excerpt from the article, "Supermarket Cards: Tip of the Retail Surveillance Iceberg," accepted for Publication in the Denver University Law Review, June 2002]

"In 5-10 years, whole new ways of doing things will emerge and gradually become commonplace. Expect big changes." - MIT's Auto-ID Center

A new consumer goods tracking system called Auto-ID is poised to enter all of our lives, with profound implications for consumer privacy. Auto-ID couples radio frequency (RF) identification technology with highly miniaturized computers that enable products to be identified and tracked at any point along the supply chain.

The system could be applied to almost any physical item, from ballpoint pens to toothpaste, which would carry their own unique information in the form of an embedded chip. The chip sends out an identification signal allowing it to communicate with reader devices and other products embedded with similar chips.

Analysts envision a time when the system will be used to identify and track every item produced on the planet.

A number for every Item on the planet

Auto-ID employs a numbering scheme called ePC (for "electronic product code") which can provide a unique ID for any physical object in the world. The ePC is intended to replace the UPC bar code used on products today.

Unlike the bar code, however, the ePC goes beyond identifying product categories -- it actually assigns a unique number to every single item that rolls off a manufacturing line. For example, each pack of cigarettes, individual can of soda, light bulb or package of razor blades produced would be uniquely identifiable through its own ePC number.

Once assigned, this number is transmitted by a radio frequency ID tag (RFID) in or on the product. These tiny tags, predicted by some to cost less than 1 cent each by 2004, are "somewhere between the size of a grain of sand and a speck of dust." They are to be built directly into food, clothes, drugs, or auto-parts during the manufacturing process.

Receiver or reader devices are used to pick up the signal transmitted by the RFID tag. Proponents envision a pervasive global network of millions of receivers along the entire supply chain -- in airports, seaports, highways, distribution centers, warehouses, retail stores, and in the home. This would allow for seamless, continuous identification and tracking of physical items as they move from one place to another, enabling companies to determine the whereabouts of all their products at all times.

Steven Van Fleet, an executive at International Paper, looks forward to the prospect. "We'll put a radio frequency ID tag on everything that moves in the North American supply chain," he enthused recently.

The ultimate goal is for Auto-ID to create a "physically linked world" in which every item on the planet is numbered, identified, catalogued, and tracked. And the technology exists to make this a reality. Described as "a political rather than a technological problem," creating a global system “would . . . involve negotiation between, and consensus among, different countries.” Supporters are aiming for worldwide acceptance of the technologies needed to build the infrastructure within the next few years.

The implications of Auto-ID

"Theft will be drastically reduced because items will report when they are stolen, their smart tags also serving as a homing device toward their exact location." - MIT's Auto-ID Center

Though many Auto-ID proponents appear focused on inventory and supply chain efficiency, others are developing financial and consumer applications that, if adopted, will have chilling effects on consumers' ability to escape the oppressive surveillance of manufacturers, retailers, and marketers. Of course, government and law enforcement will be quick to use the technology to keep tabs on citizens, as well.

The European Central Bank is quietly working to embed RFID tags in the fibers of Euro bank notes by 2005. The tag would allow money to carry its own history by recording information about where it has been, thus giving governments and law enforcement agencies a means to literally "follow the money" in every transaction. If and when RFID devices are embedded in banknotes, the anonymity that cash affords in consumer transactions will be eliminated.

Hitachi Europe wants to supply the tags. The company has developed a smart tag chip that -- at just 0.3mm square and as thin as a human hair -- can easily fit inside of a banknote. Mass-production of the new chip will start within a year.

Consumer marketing applications will decimate privacy

"Radio frequency is another technology that supermarkets are already using in a number of places throughout the store. We now envision a day where consumers will walk into a store, select products whose packages are embedded with small radio frequency UPC codes, and exit the store without ever going through a checkout line or signing their name on a dotted line."

Jacki Snyder, Manager of Electronic Payments for Supervalu (Supermarkets), Inc., and Chair, Food Marketing Institute Electronic Payments Committee

According to a video tour of the "Home of the Future" and "Store of the Future" sponsored by Proctor and Gamble, applications could include shopping carts that automatically bill consumer's accounts (cards would no longer be needed to link purchases to individuals), refrigerators that report their contents to the supermarket for re-ordering, and interactive televisions that select commercials based on the contents of a home's refrigerator.

Now that shopper cards have whetted their appetite for data, marketers are no longer content to know who buys what, when, where, and how. As incredible as it may seem, they are now planning ways to monitor consumers' use of products within their very homes. Auto-ID tags coupled with indoor receivers installed in shelves, floors, and doorways, could provide a degree of omniscience about consumer behavior that staggers the imagination.

Consider the following statements by John Stermer, Senior Vice President of eBusiness Market Development at ACNielsen:

"[After bar codes] [t]he next 'big thing' [was] [f]requent shopper cards. While these did a better job of linking consumers and their purchases, loyalty cards were severely limited...consider the usage, consumer demographic, psychographic and economic blind spots of tracking data.... [S]omething more integrated and holistic was needed to provide a ubiquitous understanding of on- and off-line consumer purchase behavior, attitudes and product usage. The answer: RFID (radio frequency identification) technology.... In an industry first, RFID enables the linking of all this product information with a specific consumer identified by key demographic and psychographic markers....Where once we collected purchase information, now we can correlate multiple points of consumer product purchase with consumption specifics such as the how, when and who of product use."

While developers claim that Auto-ID technology will create "order and balance" in a chaotic world, even the center's executive director, Kevin Ashton, acknowledges there's a "Brave New World" feel to the technology. He admits, for example, that people might balk at the thought of police using Auto-ID to scan the contents of a car's trunk without needing to open it. The Center's co-director, Sanjay E. Sarma, has already begun planning strategies to counter the public backlash he expects the system will encounter.

(http://www.nocards.org/AutoID/overview.shtml)

Links of interest:
C.A.S.P.I.A.N. (Consumers Against Supermarket Invasion and Numbering)
RFID Update
RFID Journal

Listen to two Endtime "Politics & Religion" radio programs with Katherine Albrecht as the guest discussing latest RFID news.
(one hour each - Real Player)
1. February 19, 2003
2. June 19, 2003
Also check here for more current Endtime Politics & Religion radio programs on this and other subjects.

Buy Videos featuring Katherine Albrecht from Endtime Politics & Religion website.
Video titles:
1. RFID: Tracking Everything, Everywhere
2. On the Brink of the Mark

See also:
Babylon
Forehead and Hand
Leprosy
Red Beast/Islam/Ottoman Empire
The Number 666
The Creature from Jekyll Island

 Also visit:
http://www.raidersnewsupdate.com/implantsites.html

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