Temple Church, London

The Temple Church in London is a historic and beautiful church, located between the River Thames in the South and Fleet Street in the North. Its location shows how prestigious the Order of the Nights Templar had become.

 This Temple was a centre of economic and political activity. The Church was built by the Knights Templar, the order of crusading monks which was founded in order to protect pilgrims on their way to and from Jerusalem in the 12th century. 

They were one of the two most powerful military-religious order of medieval Europe. Only the Kinghts Hospitaller rivalled them. The Templars's story commenced with the First Crusade. They received their name after the king of Jerusalem gave them headquarters on the Temple Mount, which was built 1000 years ago by Herod the Great. 

The Church consists of two parts, the Round and the Chancel. The Round Church was consecrated in 1185 by Heraclius the Patriarch of Jerusalem, who was in London at the time. It was designed to recall the circular Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, which was built in the 4th century by the Byzantine Emperor Constantine.

The London Temple was the Templars' headquarters in Great Britain. In the beginning the Templars were liked and respected. St. Bernard of Clairvaux became their patron and they gained many privileges from popes and much support from kings.  

After the Order was abolished in 1307 by the Pope, King Edward II took control of the London Temple and eventually handed it over to the Order of St. John, i.e. the Knights Hospitaller, who had worked with the Templars. (Its important to state that the Knights Hospitaller redefined themselves in the 19th century by becoming providers of emergency medical care. The Order of St. John continues to this day to offer first aid and nursing, in peace and war, not only in Britain but all around the world). 

During King Henry VIII's  reign the Temple was confiscated and again belonged to the Crown. A priest was provided who received the title "Master of the Temple". 

In 1941 the church was badly damaged by incendiary bombs. The roof of the round church burned first and the wind soon spread the fire to the nave and the choir. The organ was also destroyed. Due to these catastrophic events the restoration process took a long time. However now the church is still a historical and religious site one needs to visit when in London. 

The end of the world

Many, during the course of history, have given various dates on when the world will come to an end. This year the most famous person preaching about the coming apocalypse has been pastor Harold Camping, who believed that the world would come to an end on the 21 May 2011. However we are still here. The 89 year old man was astonished to see that his calculations were wrong. Putting down some facts he has given the world a new date, the 21 October 2011. 

Speaking on a radio station he explains: " I have to tell you, when Saturday came and nothing happened it was really difficult for me. Truly I tried to see what had happened. I was sure that on the 21 of May God would come to Earth as an earthquake, which would shake mankind for the last 5 months, but God seems to have arrived only spiritually". His conclusion was that God did not want to bring a plague on to mankind for the last 5 months and that God wishes to destroy us straight away on the 21 October. 

This is merely another example of stupidity, when it comes down to giving a certain day for the apocalypse. As stated in the Bible by Jesus Christ we do not know when this event will take place. Only God the Father is aware of the date. Maybe Harold Camping and every Harold Camping has to go back to the Bible and  read the parable of the ten virgins in order to understand the true meaning and belief of the Second Coming according to the Church's teachings. 

Maps we were not taught at school

World Map of National IQ Scores

Nuclear Power Plants Worldwide

World Map of Happiness

A research found evidence that money does buy happiness. Countries with high domestic products won out for well-being and found an association between life satisfaction and income. 

World Map of Social Networks

Can you have MRI with spinal hardware including Harrington Rod?

I received this comment from the blog about the woman 29 years after Harrington rod fusion by Dr. Ralph Coonrad:

“I am 58 years old and I had my Harrington rod put in when I was 15 which was 43 years ago (where has the time gone) at the Royal Southern Hospital in Liverpool.  I am now developing other medical complaints which could require an MRI scan, Is this possible.  Has anyone experienced this at all PLEASE HELP”

My response to this is that most patients can have MRI’s done after spinal instrumentation.
The only issue is that the images will be a little blurry directly around the hardware, especially if it is stainless steel, which the original Harrington rods and many of the older systems used.
Pacemakers and spinal cord stimulator and intrathecal pumps can’t be used with MRI.
Certain metal clips in brain, etc may also be contraindication, or if you may have any metal fragments in your eye.

CT scan is an alternative way to look for spinal issues in patients with spinal hardware, which still has some artifact, but not as much as MRI.

For this particular person, she/he should discuss these questions with her doctor in context of her medical history and complaints.
I hope you get some answers and relief!

Dr. Lloyd Hey
Hey Clinic for Scoliosis and Spine Surgery
http://www.heyclinic.com

Mammoths will return in four years

The hairy mammoth, which has been extinct the past couple of millennia, will probably return into existence in four years, due to a new cloning method. Previous attempts, by scientists in the '90s, to extract the core of the cells found on the skin and muscle tissues found in Siberia failed because of the cold weather which affected them. 

However a new method found in 2008 by Doctor Teruhiko Wakayama from the Centre of  Developmental Biology in Riken, achieved to clone a mouse from cells extracted from another mouse, that had been frozen for 16 years. Since a solution has been found, Akira Iritani from the University of Kyoto, is trying to resurrect the mammoth after thousands of years since its extinction. All needed is a good and usable sample of mammoth cell in order to commence the cloning process. A female African elephant will be used as a surrogate mother. The percentage for animal cloning has been, until now, very low. Now it is around 30%. 

Nevertheless if this does realise and the scientists achieve their goals it will create certain moral and ethical problems. Where will this stop? What else will man try to bring back to life? These and many more questions will need answering. 

The beauty of Netherlands

The most expensive pizza

Nino Selmaj owns a pizza restaurant in New York called "Nino's Bellissima Pizza". In 2007 he had a bright idea to create the most expensive pizza. This of course has several expensive ingredients, four types of caviar, a lobster tail cut in pieces, salmon roe and  the spice wasabi, which are on top of the crem fraiche base.

This pizza is worth 1000$. The funny thing is that Nino believes that this is affordable, however I believe that many will want to try this expensive and unique pizza.  

Greece responds to Spain

It all started on the 21 of May in Spain where people from all ages gathered in the centre of Madrid in order to demonstrate against the new political and economic regulations which are supported and promoted by their government. 

That is where the Spanish demonstrators posted a massive banner which stated " Be quiet, let us not wake up the Greeks". A couple of days after this gesture, which was seen as a great insult in Greece, a response was given. Even the Spanish newspaper El Pais had an article analysing the demonstration in Athens. Over 30.000 people gathered in the centre of Athens, Sintagma Square, and in all the big squares of cities around Greece. The answer on a massive Spanish flag banner was, "We are awake. What time is it? Time for them to leave". 

However next to this banner another one stated " Be quiet, let us not wake up the Italians". The latter was placed under the Greek Parliament. This is the movement of the "Aganaktismeni", i.e. the frustrated which seems to be exploding around Europe.  

This was one demonstration organised by Greeks and not by the political parties, which unfortunately is the norm, especially in the Greek capital. Although it was provoked by the Spaniards, it was aimed not at them but towards the European Union and the IMF. The funny thing is that this demonstration was organised and formed through Facebook and Twitter.

Greeks are now in dialogue with Spain, but also with the rest of Europe. It was a demonstration supporting and defending democracy. Maybe now in this dialogue we will see people from other countries, such as Portugal, Ireland and who ever else will join the P.I.I.G.S. team, which in many aspects is inevitable.