Stolen from the bleacher report.

The best pound for pound fighter in the world

Manny Pacquiao Is Everything Floyd Mayweather Jr. Is Not
by Kevin Riley

On Saturday night, a 72-foot-tall Filipino spitfire is going to appear out of a tunnel in front of 45,000 fans at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Tex.

Though it will only be on a high-definition video board—which is also 160-feet wide—people, for the first time, will understand how Floyd Mayweather Jr. feels when he imagines Manny Pacquiao staring him down from the other side of a boxing ring.

It must be difficult for Little Floyd; I’m sure he gets nightmares. Pacquiao, after all, is everything that he is not:

Fighter of the Decade? Check.

Pound-for-Pound King? Check.

The People’s Champ? Check.

Media Darling? Check.

Let me correct myself, it must be really difficult for Little Floyd.

Mayweather, you see, is all these things in his own mind, and judging by the way that mind has spiraled out of control since Nov. 14, when the world first clamored for him to engage in a battle with all of the above, the biggest Duck since Daffy knows it’s true.

read more here

And this is why chicken floyd is scared of Manny. Pacman is one dimensional? Right.

Goddess worship

Goddess worshipping religions were mostly based on being fertile and its relationship to nature. Crops yield bountifully(read fertile) because the “Mother” provided. This belief honors the females “power” to produce or “create new life”. Nature, and the earth in particular is itself a “mother” which produces bounty.

Goddess worship is found in almost all the pagan religions throughout history, including the ancient middle east countries, Egypt, Sumeria and Canaan not to mention India, Europe and Africa. The Goddess has a long history as proven by stone statuettes indicating Goddess worship as early as the Paleolithic ages.

By the time of Jesus’ ministry, the worship of Goddesses such as Artemis and Aphrodite was prevalent in the Middle East, Greece and Rome. The pagan goddess Cybele, or the “Earth Mother/Magna Mater” was brought to Rome to “protect it” from foreign foes. It was also for Cybele where the tradition of procession was observed when the statue was brought from Pessinos to Rome. Under Emperor Augustus, Cybele’s prominence so much so that the emperor restored her temple on Palatine hill, the centermost of the seven hills of Rome. The Basilica di Santa Maria now occupies the spot.

Cybele, also known as Kubile, worship spread from Phrygia now modern day Turkey (think Constantinople) and well into Greece, Rome and neighboring countries. Like the Ephesian Artemis (see Acts 19) Cybele was worshiped in the Roman Empire until the 4th Century well after the death of Christ’s Apostles. Her full Roman name was “Mother of the Gods”. She was deified as a great single parent not only of gods but also of human beings. In 431 at the Council of Ephesus, the devotion tot he Virgin Mary was formally sanctioned by the Catholic church. It was through this council that Mary was declared the “Mother of God”.

Stephen Benko specializes in early Christianity in its pagan environment. In The Virgin Goddess: Studies in the Pagan and Christian Roots of Mariology, he traces the development of the cult of Mary from Greek and Roman mythology through to recent times. Benko avoids anti-Catholic polemics and is sympathetic to the place of the “queen of heaven” in Christianity. That said, he unerringly traces Mary’s roots to the pagan, pre-Christian heavenly queens of Greece, Rome and the wider Mediterranean—those mutable goddesses whose ranks include Artemis, Astarte, Celeste, Ceres, Cybele, Demeter, Diana, Ishtar, Isis and Selene.

It is interesting to know that the first basilica dedicated to Mary is located in Ephesus where the ancient pagan goddess of Artemis was worshiped.

The Plaza de Cibeles is a square with a neo-classical complex of marble sculptures with fountains that has become an iconic symbol for the city of Madrid. The fountain of Cibeles is found in the part of Madrid commonly called the Paseo de Recoletos. It depicts the goddess Cibeles (Cybele), the Phrygian goddess of fertility, sitting on a chariot pulled by two lions.

Cibeles(Cybele) the Phrygian goddess of fertility

The mere title Mater Dei, then coming ito frequent use, would instantly provoke a comparison with Mater Deum, and the formal vewtowal of the former title on the Virgin (Mary) in council in 430 A.D. might well have seemed in the eyes of pagans like despoiling their fallen goddess (Cybele) of even her title. The temple of the Mother in Cyzicus was converted into a church of the Virgin (Mary), a fate likely to have befallen every temple of the goddess not destroyed by the zeal of fanatics. The church of Santa Maria Maggiore was supposed to have arisen on the ruins of anther temple, and the Santa Maria Rotunda, the mediaeval Pantheon, was long supposed to have been originally a sanctuary of the Mother (Cybele).
source: The Great Mother of the Gods, showerman, 1901

KFC- Kentucky Floyd Chicken

Floyd Mayweather will enter the ring against Shane Mosley on May 1, 2010. He finally decided to fight Shane now that Shane is 38, figuring perhaps that time had slowed down and weakened Mosley. We should remember that Mayweather avoided Mosley when they were both in their prime. It’s the same way he’s now avoiding Manny Pacquiao at all cost.

Mayweather doesn’t want to get hit. He’s a chicken by heart. That’s why he honed his skill by being a defensive “fighter”. There’s no doubt he put a lot of effort and concentrated on defense. Mosley on the other hand is a fighter, as the Master Trainer Freddie Roach said Mosley like Pacquaio “They’d come right at each other until one falls.” Mayweather is a runner, in the ring and which opponent to face.

My prediction, Sugar Shane will knock him out just as he did Margarito.

You can’t blame Chicken Floyd for avoiding Manny Pacquiao. I just wish he’d shut up once in a while.

Manny, who's next?

I was going to write a blog about Easter using the research I did on it for a couple of months. While writing it I thought of the many people who practices it and for sure they will not be receptive of what I will be writing. And so I thought, instead of putting my own thoughts into what Easter is, why don’t I just directly quote a couple of the sources I gathered and let my readers decide what Easter is?

Let me just make it clear, full credit goes to the sources I quoted.

So here goes:

Easter

The English term, according to the Ven. Bede (De temporum ratione, I, v), relates to Estre, a Teutonic goddess of the rising light of day and spring, which deity, however, is otherwise unknown, even in the Edda (Simrock, Mythol., 362); Anglo-Saxon, eâster, eâstron; Old High German, ôstra, ôstrara, ôstrarûn; German, Ostern. April was called easter-monadh. The plural eâstron is used, because the feast lasts seven days.

Peculiar customs of Easter time
Risus Paschalis

This strange custom originated in Bavaria in the fifteenth century. The priest inserted in his sermon funny stories which would cause his hearers to laugh (Ostermärlein), e.g. a description of how the devil tries to keep the doors of hell locked against the descending Christ. Then the speaker would draw the moral from the story. This Easter laughter, giving rise to grave abuses of the word of God, was prohibited by Clement X (1670-1676) and in the eighteenth century by Maximilian III and the bishops of Bavaria (Wagner, De Risu Paschali, Königsberg, 1705; Linsemeier, Predigt in Deutschland, Munich, 1886).

Easter eggs

Because the use of eggs was forbidden during Lent, they were brought to the table on Easter Day, coloured red to symbolize the Easter joy. This custom is found not only in the Latin but also in the Oriental Churches. The symbolic meaning of a new creation of mankind by Jesus risen from the dead was probably an invention of later times. The custom may have its origin in paganism, for a great many pagan customs, celebrating the return of spring, gravitated to Easter. The egg is the emblem of the germinating life of early spring. Easter eggs, the children are told, come from Rome with the bells which on Thursday go to Rome and return Saturday morning. The sponsors in some countries give Easter eggs to their god-children. Coloured eggs are used by children at Easter in a sort of game which consists in testing the strength of the shells (Kraus, Real-Encyklopædie, s.v. Ei). Both coloured and uncoloured eggs are used in some parts of the United States for this game, known as “egg-picking”. Another practice is the “egg-rolling” by children on Easter Monday on the lawn of the White House in Washington.

The Easter rabbit

The Easter Rabbit lays the eggs, for which reason they are hidden in a nest or in the garden. The rabbit is a pagan symbol and has always been an emblem of fertility (Simrock, Mythologie, 551).

source:newadvent.org

The incredible, spiritual egg

Fragile, shelled icon holds importance for many faith groups

By MELISSA NANN BURKE (text) and SAMANTHA DELLINGER (graphics)
Daily Record/Sunday News

Updated: 04/12/2009 11:20:41 AM EDT

Eggs carry significance in many spiritual traditions. They represent everything from the arrival of spring to the Resurrection of Jesus.Perhaps it’s the delicate wonder of new life contained within the egg’s thin, grainy shell. Or its shape evoking the circle of life.

Whatever the case, cultures ’round the world revere this strange little icon of renewal.

PAGAN

Before eggs became associated with Easter, they represented the earth’s rebirth. With spring’s arrival, winter comes to a close, and the earth bursts forth with life – as eggs do.

Eggs have been associated with ancient pagan festivals marking the spring equinox, although scholars debate that. It’s thought that eggs were originally painted with bright colors to represent the sunlight of spring.

Those who observe the Wiccan and Neopagan festival Ostara, which occurs in March, often use eggs.

“They are the sign of life and rebirth,” said Jess Morehead, a member of the Nature Church in York Township.

“For Ostara, we planted seedlings with a manifested hope for the new season. One member brought painted eggs to lay on the altar as offerings to the elements and deity.”

ZOROASTRIAN

Zoroastrianism was once the state religion of the ancient Persian empires, an area that includes modern-day Iran. In Persian culture, egg painting with one’s family is popular at Nowruz, or Nawruz, a New Year celebration that coincides with the spring equinox.

Eggs, representing fertility, are often placed on a ceremonial table for the New Year ritual of Haft Seen. Dishes on the table symbolize rebirth, health, happiness, prosperity, joy, patience and beauty, among other hopes for the new year.

During a Zoroastrian wedding, an egg is sometimes rotated around the groom’s head and broken to ward off evil.

JEWISH

At Passover, an egg is placed on the seder plate as a symbol of the traditional festival sacrifice (korban chagigah) offered during the days of the Temple in Jerusalem. It also represents the new life of freedom the Israelites experienced after 210 years of slavery in Egypt. The egg has significance in other areas of Jewish culture as well.

“Typically, an egg is served alongside other ’round’ foods (i.e., bagels, onions, tomatoes, etc.) at the Meal of Condolence following a funeral service, as well as at proscribed times in the Jewish calendar when community-wide mourning is observed for various historical events,” said Rabbi Jeffrey R. Astrachan of Temple Beth Israel in York Township.

“By seeing and consuming such foods we are reminded of the circle of life. Even in the face of death, danger and destruction, we are to be hopeful of all the promise that a new life can bring.”

There you go. Let me just say that Easter, the celebration of it not the concept of Easter is never found in the bible not it’s practice described and performed by the servants of God. It is therefore evident that this holiday is not of Christian origin. It was never practiced by Jesus Christ nor his Apostles. Knowing all these, would a Christian practice such an un-Christian holiday?e

The Executive Minister of the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC), Brother Eduardo V. Manalo, ordained another 200 new ministers at the INC’s Central Temple along Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City on February 13, 2010.

It was the INC’s second ordination of ministers this year. The first one was held on January 2, the birth anniversary of INC’s erstwhile leader, Brother Eraño G. Manalo, who passed away late last year. It was also the first ordination to be administered by the present Executive Minister, Brother Eduardo Manalo, during which 202 evangelical workers were ordained to become full-fledged ministers of the gospel.

During his homily last Saturday, Brother Eduardo Manalo explained what having more ministers meant to the church, saying:

“Many ministers are needed for our ever-expanding mission. You, my brethren, know very well how much this church has grown. The ministers are the ones who teach God’s words to the congregation during worship services, the ones who visit the homes of the brethren to edify those who are weary, and the ones who give counsel to those who are in need.”

Those ordained in the past two occasions were graduates of the College of Evangelical Ministry of the New Era University. They finished the five-year CHEd-accredited Bachelor of Evangelical Ministry course and underwent field training for a minimum of nine years across the country as well as in abroad. In fact, 62 of the ordainees last January flew from various parts of the USA, Europe, and Australia late last December and spent the New Year here with their families to prepare for the ordination.

At the rate it’s going, the INC, under the leadership of its new Executive Minister, Brother Eduardo Manalo, is showing no signs of slowing down in its effort to contribute to society’s spiritual growth through its evangelism and edification campaigns.

source: Manila Bulletin Online

Killens is not a stranger to the Iglesia Ni Cristo as he debated the same topic in a 1994 held at a Salinas Elementary School. “Last time I didn’t have all my reference materials” Killens said Friday. “I constantly bothered [the Salinas congregation of the Iglesia Ni Cristo about another debate], and they gave me a chance today” he continued. Killens will argue that the bible supports a three-in-one deity, even if the word “trinity” never actually appear in the bible.

Killens, and Anthony Brandon, Iglesia Ni Cristo resident minister of the Salinas congregation both said the debate is not about arguing. Instead, it’s an opportunity to share the faith and beliefs and allow people to come to their own conclusions.

source: thecalifornian.com

Belen, named after the beloved Bro Eraño Manalo, the late Executive Minister of the Iglesia Ni Cristo who also shares the birthday earns praise for his scholastic achievements. He never told anybody, not even his family who only found out about his honor from friends.

Air Force First Class Cadet Erano Bontilao Belen (left) and Cadet First Class Froilan Pinay-an, who top the Philippine Military Academy Class of 2010, are presented to the media on Monday. PHOTO BY HARLEY PALANGCHAO

Congratulations Bro Eraño Belen. We rejoice and celebrate your achievement.

Thanks Bro Mel for this newsbit.

source: inquirer.net

Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday] was taken from Roman paganism, which took it from Vedic India. Ashes were called the seed of the fire god Agni, with power to forgive sins. Ashes were said to were a symbol for the purifying blood of Shiva, in which, one could bathe away sins. During Rome’s New Year Feast of Atonement in March, people wore sackcloth and bathed in ashes to atone for their sins. As the dying god of March, Mars took his worshippers sins with him into death. The carnival fell on dies martis, the Day of Mars. In English, this was Tuesday, because Mars was identified with the Saxon god Tiw. In French the carnival day was Mardi Gras, “Fat Tuesday,” the day of merrymaking before Ash Wednesday.(illuminati-news.com)

What do Catholics say about Ash Wednesday? According to americancatholic.org

Although Ash Wednesday is not a Catholic holy day of obligation, it is an important part of the season of Lent. The first clear evidence of Ash Wednesday is around 960, and in the 12th century people began using palm branches from the previous Palm Sunday for ashes.

the use of ashes in the Church left only a few records in the first millennium of Church history. Thomas Talley, an expert on the history of the liturgical year, says that the first clearly datable liturgy for Ash Wednesday that provides for sprinkling ashes is in the Romano-Germanic pontifical of 960. Before that time, ashes had been used as a sign of admission to the Order of Penitents. As early as the sixth century, the Spanish Mozarabic rite calls for signing the forehead with ashes when admitting a gravely ill person to the Order of Penitents. At the beginning of the 11th century, Abbot Aelfric notes that it was customary for all the faithful to take part in a ceremony on the Wednesday before Lent that included the imposition of ashes. Near the end of that century, Pope Urban II called for the general use of ashes on that day. Only later did this day come to be called Ash Wednesday.

At first, clerics and men had ashes sprinkled on their heads, while women had the sign of the cross made with ashes on their foreheads. Eventually, of course, the ritual used with women came to be used for men as well.

In the 12th century the rule developed that the ashes were to be created by burning palm branches from the previous Palm Sunday. Many parishes today invite parishioners to bring such palms to church before Lent begins and have a ritual burning of the palms after Mass.

source:americancatholic.org

There is no mention of Ash Wednesday, the practice of it or even a semblance of it in the bible. This is also true with Lent of which Ash Wednesday is supposed to be a preparation for.

So ask yourself this: if you’re a Christian, a true Christian would you practice something not taught by Jesus Christ or his Apostles?

Cupid

Today February 14 is Valentines’ day or more accurately St. Valentine’s day! A log of candy, flowers and gifts will change hand today all because it is a celebration of this one mysterious “saint”. Even in the Catholic church in Sikatuna, Quezon City, Philippines a traditional Latin Mass will be held.

But who was this “St Valentine” and what is the basis for such a celebration? According to the Catholic Encyclopedia at the website newadvent.org, there are at least 3 different St Valentines! Sadly no tangible historical record of these three can be found, meaning these stories are probably legends or as Catholic call them, “traditions” or simply stories passed on. But what we do know with absolute certainty is the fact that these three are not mentioned in the bible and neither is their celebration. Two of the three lived and died in the second half of the third century while the third was at a much later period. The holiday was supposedly established by the Roman Pope Gelasius I in AD 496, definitely not of Christian or apostolic origin.

Faunus as depicted by the sculpter Bartolomeo Ammanati.

According to history.com, the legends contends that a priest named Valentine served in third century Rome during the reign of Emperor Claudius II who decided that single men made better soldiers and so outlawed marriage for young men! Claudius supposedly executed Valentine because the latter would not stop performing marriages. According to another legend, Valentine sent the first “valentine” card while in prison, to a young girl he fell in love with. In either case, none of these stories are ever written in the bible or attested to by the Apostles and yet this “St Valentine” apparently commands religious respect from Roman Catholics that they dedicated a mass to him.

But what is the origin of Valentines Day? History.com com again states taht the celebration was based on the pagan Lupercalia festival. Lupercalia was the fertility festival of pagan Rome which was observed on February 15 and dedicated to Faunus, the pagan god of agriculture.

And there you go, another pagan holiday celebrated by Catholics all over the world. Ask yourself this: would you allow yourself to practice a pagan holiday when you’re supposed to be Christian?

Is It True That the Miter of the Pope and Bishops Is Patterned After Egyptian Paganism?

To which he proudly answered this:

ANSWER: DEFINITENLY NOT! THE EPISCOPAL MITER OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IS TAKEN FROM THE HOLY GARMENTS WORN BY THE HIGH RANKING MINISTERS OF GOD IN THE TEMPLE AND THE MEETING TENT OF ISRAEL:

He then proceeded to quote bible verses from the book of Exodus that seemed to say that indeed the mitre was used by God’s ancient servants. The verses talked about ceremonies in which the priest wore a headgear. The verses he quoted from the book of Exodus were: 28:4. 28:37, 39:31, 28:39, 29:6, 39:28.

So the assertions of Mr Arganiosa on his blog are:

1. The mitre used by the Catholic church is based on God’s ancient peoples, specifically ancient Israel.
2. The mitre was used by the ancient people of God, ancient Israel.

Let examine Mr Arganiosa’s claims and see if they have some substance.

Abe Arganiosa

A casual check of the verses he quoted revealed that not all bible version render the verse to say “mitre”! Actually a good majority of bible versions render the headgear as “turban”. So, the second assertion of Mr Arganiosa that the people of God in the time of Moses wore a mitre is on a shaky foundation. He should have consulted other versions of the bible to make sure he is right but he obviously did not do this and now he’s in danger of being inadequate in his research. Or maybe he did to intentionally mislead?

The Turban, wound as a "Mitznefet" (left) for the Kohen Gadol and as a "Migba'at" (right) for the ordinary Kohen

What exactly is in the Hebrew rendition of the verses he quoted? Again a cursory check of the bible reveals that the Hebrew word which was translated to both mitre and turban by different version is “mitsnepheth“. Mitsnepheth means a piece of cloth woven around the head.  One has to agree that even today, people in the middle east wear some sort of headgear wrapped around their head to keep the sun and heat away. So it won’t be too far fetched to think that a turban is the most likely headgear used by the early inhabitants of the Middle East. In fact, some Hebrew websites describe the apparel of ancient Hebrews to include a turban.

Clearly, even common sense dictates that the “mitre” quoted by Mr Arganiosa is a turban similar to the graphic at right and is a long piece of cloth wrapped around the head. Now let’s compare this to the mitre used by the Catholic church.

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia (newadvent.org):

Mitre of the Catholic Church

The mitre is a kind of folding-cap. It consists of two like parts, each stiffened by a lining and risingto a peak; these are sewn together on the sides, but are united above by a piece of material that can fold together. Two lappets trimmed on the ends with fringe hang down from the back. The mitre is, theoretically, always supposed to be white. The official “Cæremoniale Romanum” distinguishes three kinds of mitres: the mitra pretiosa, auriphrygiata, and simplex. The first two differ from each other only in the greater or less richness of the ornamentation; the mitra simplex, or simple mitre, is one of white silk or white linen entirely without ornament. The fringe on the lappets at the back should be red.

Origin

The pontifical mitre is of Roman origin: it is derived from a non-liturgical head-covering distinctive of the pope, the camelaucum, to which also the tiara is to be traced. The camelaucum was worn as early as the beginning of the eighth century, as is shown by the biography of Pope Constantine I (708- 815) in the “Liber Pontificalis”. The same headcovering is also mentioned in the so-called “Donation of Constantine”. The Ninth Ordo states that the camelaucum was made of white stuff and shaped like a helmet. The coins of Sergius III (904-11) and of Benedict VII (974-83), on which St. Peter is portrayed wearing a camelaucum, give the cap the form of a cone, the original shape of the mitre. The camelaucum was worn by the pope principally during solemn processions. The mitre developed from the camelaucum in this way: in the course of the tenth century the pope began to wear this head-covering not merely during processions to the church, but also during the subsequent church service. Whether any influence was exerted by the recollection of the sacerdotal head-ornament of the high-priest of the Old Testament is not known, but probably not—at least there is no trace of any such influence. It was not until the mitre was universally worn by bishops that it was called an imitation of the Jewish sacerdotal head-ornament.

source: newadvent.org

Need I say more? A folding cap is not at all similar to a long piece of linen cloth wrapped around the head. The Catholic encyclopedia has more than enough information contradicting Mr Arganiosa’s claims. Too bad that Mr Arganiosa seems to not even know the history of his own religion.

To recap, we’ve just established that both of Mr Arganiosa’s claim are not true and also established the following:

1. The mitre used by the Catholic church is not based on the turban used by the ancient people of God.
2. A turban was used by the ancient people of God.

But then we’re still left by the question posed to Mr Arganiosa, which is

Is It True That the Miter of the Pope and Bishops Is Patterned After Egyptian Paganism?

"St". Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, wearing a mitre

As is stated by the Catholic Encyclopedia, the Pope’s mitre is of Roman origin! Read again, Roman origin, NOT Christian origin. It is derived from camelaucum. What is a camelaucum?  Again, the Catholic encyclopedia tells us that the camelaucum was first used  by Pope Constantine during his reign in the 8th century and was part of the supposed donation of Emperor Constantine.

Suffice it to say, we can safely assert with much authority that Mr Arganiosa doesn’t know what he’s talking about and that the mitre used by the Catholic church is of pagan influence.

Ask yourself this: do you think a supposedly Christian religion is well justified in using a pagan instrument in its practices?