Beastly Markings?

As long as we're on the religion kick, let me point this out. This is a quote from a Malaysian newspaper, followed by a quote from the book of The Revelation of St. John the Divine. See if you notice anything similar.

From The Star Online:

Many people are still missing from the Dec 26 tsunami. Some of the dead cannot be identified. Rescuers are taking DNA samples and extracting thumbprints from corpses.

In Phuket and many other locations, noticeboards of missing persons have been put up and people are combing hospitals and morgues to see if they can locate their loved ones.

Some current technology could have helped here. Here's one possible scenario:

The VeriChip is about the size of a grain of rice, virtually undetectable and practically indestructible once inserted under the skin – usually in your right hand or forehead. The chip has a special polyethylene sheath that helps skin bond to it, so that it stays in place.

Since the chip has no battery, there are no chemicals to worry about and the chip never “runs down” – its expected life is up to 20 years.

Tourists entering a country are scanned at the immigration checkpoint. They can pay for their taxis, groceries and hotel rooms with just a swipe of the hand. As they travel throughout their holiday destination, they leave behind an electronic trail which is recorded not only in this country but also in the home credit card company.

In the event of a calamity like the recent tsunami disaster, the VeriChips can easily be extracted from corpses or the details downloaded into a scanner before a quick burial. Details are fed into a web-based data bank and instantly a victims list is made available online to the rest of the world.

With the incorporation of a transponder into the VeriChip, sensitive scanners could locate missing persons or even verify that the owner of that particular chip is no longer alive.

OK, now here's the Bible quote:

13:16
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:

13:17
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.

Now, I'm not one to easily freak out at such things. I rarely darken a church's door. I think a friend's wedding and my grandmother's funeral were the last two times I've even been in one in the last 5 years.

Still, I was brought up in the Xtian church, and that just strikes me as being kinda creepy. I'm betting the newspaper reporter did that deliberately, just to see if anyone would take notice!

Found at Darth Misha I's Imperial Palace.