It's all in the Levis

Modern day Cypriots have closer genetic links with Jews, Arabs and Anatolians rather than with Europeans, a 2013 scientific study reported. 

"Progress"

An international team of 14 geneticists published their extensive research in a Public Library of Science (PLOS) journal on February 28^th this year. The results reveal a Levantine racial structure not previously reported in the international scientific world. 

Cypriots fall into the genetic group called West Asia.  Closest to the Cypriot gene pool are Armenians, Syrians, Lebanese, Druzes (Arabs), Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews, Saudi Arabians and Jordanians.  Followed by Georgians, Iranians (Persians) and Turks.  See the pink bar on the chart below - click on the image to enlarge.    

Cypriot genes:  not in the European group

A common ancestry matrix from the same article shows the genetic links between Cypriots and North and East Africans, Middle Easterners and West Asians.  The highest concentrations of pink show the most common ancestry.  

Cypriots descend from the NE African, Middle Eastern and Anatolian gene pools

The map below shows gene distribution by geographical area.  Cypriot genes, in the bar on the left, are mostly 'blue' with a bit of 'green'.  While there are faint blue areas in western Europe, Egypt, and north-west Africa, the highest concentration of the ‘blue’ gene type is found in the Jewish and Arab regions, extending into the South Caucasus and Asia Minor.  The highest concentrations of the 'green' gene are in north and east Africa and the southern Arabian peninsula.

Cypriots originate from the highlighted regions
N.B. There is no blue or green shading in the area that is now modern Greece

The first undisputed human settlement of Cyprus dates to the Neolithic period, 9^th or 10^th millennium BC.  Water wells discovered by archaeologists in west Cyprus are believed to be among the oldest of the world, approximately 9,000-10,500 years old, putting the earliest inhabitants of Cyprus in the Stone Age.  

The earliest known stone tools have been excavated in what is now Ethiopia, i.e. East Africa is where man is thought to have first developed before multiplying and migrating, taking stone technology with him.  Human skin colour changed over the millennia according to the degree of exposure to UV light from the sun.  

The most widely accepted evolutionary theory of the origins of anatomically modern humans is the Out of Africa theory.  This is supported by the PLOS scientists, who say:

Genetic and archaeological studies present solid evidence placing the Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula as the first stepping stone outside Africa.  

In other words, we are all children of Africa.  

The teachings of the Catholic Church are not incompatible with evolutionary theory.  Pope Benedict XVI defended the concept of Theistic Evolution in the book, Creation and Evolution:  A Conference with Pope Benedict XVI in Castel Gandolfo,  Stephan Horn (Ed.), San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2008.  

And God saw all the things that He had made, and they were very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
- Book of Genesis 1:31 (D-R)

Quiz

Out of the following 10 people, guess who are ethnically Cypriot or part-Cypriot.  

1 point for each correct answer.  

The answers are in the comm-box.  No cheating!  

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Thugs in uniforms

Shocking images of a Cypriot police officer kicking, roughly manhandling and breaking the leg of an Ivory Coast national point again to the endemic racism that runs through Cypriot society like a plague.  

The 6-minute video, released to the press by the Nicosia-based NGO, KISA (Movement for Equality, Support and Anti-Racism), was filmed by one of the eye witnesses at the scene.  It shows the Ivorian man being kicked and screaming in agony, holding his leg.  He can be heard refusing to go with the police to “a doctor”.  One of the bystanders says to the cop:  "He doesn't trust you."  Towards the end of the video his leg can be seen at an unnatural angle.  He is eventually attended by an ambulance crew, his leg is set and put into a splint.  

One panicked cop is seen talking to his superior on his mobile before the medics arrive.  His words have been subtitled in Greek as he anxiously asks for back-up.  He is clearly heard shouting in dialect, “έσσιει παναύρι πολλήν δαμέ, κύριε” (“there’s a big commotion going on here, sir”), “έσσιει πολλήν κόσμο” (“there are too many people”), and “επιαστήκαμε δαμέ” (“we’re stuck here”).  Was he being instructed to flee the scene?  Oops.  All on film too.  

KISA says three MMAD (Mobile Immediate Action Unit) officers randomly stopped, for no apparent reason, three black-African men going about Nicosia town centre on a Wednesday afternoon, which is a half-day in Cyprus (non-working afternoon).  All three men were carrying written proof that they are legal residents.  The Ivorian man whose leg was broken has lived legally in Cyprus for 7 years and is married to a Cypriot woman with whom he has a 4-year-old child.  It is not clear why the policemen decided to arrest and manacle him in the first place, let alone inflict such brutal violence.  

Is this the new police efficiency and commitment to solving serious crimes that Justice Minister Jonas Nicolaou was boasting about earlier this week?   “This [Ivorian] case will be investigated,” Nicolaou said yesterday.  What’s to investigate?  The man is in Nicosia General Hospital being treated for a broken leg, KISA says.  It doesn’t look like he fell over and broke it himself.  What disciplinary action will be taken towards those policemen?  If an ordinary citizen behaved in the same way they would be charged with grievous bodily harm and racially aggravated assault, and imprisoned.  

Last year, 145 complaints were lodged with the "independent" police complaints commission in Cyprus, according to Poly Pantelides in the CM (print edition), up 9.8% from the previous year.  Of those 145 cases, only 58 were assigned official investigators.  Of those 58, only 5 were referred to the attorney general who has the authority to prosecute the perpetrators.  Of those 5, only 3 resulted in further legal action.  So I make that 0.2% of complaints against the Cypriot police eventually see a result.  99.8% don't.  

The minister of injustice, Jonas Nicolaou, told the CM that only "one or two isolated cases" have been related to the excessive use of force by the Cypriot police in the past.  Ahh, the other 143 complainants last year must have just been moaning about speeding fines. 

Eleven years ago the Republic of the Ivory Coast was torn apart by civil war.  Two years ago they had another war.  Those that managed to flee the bloodshed and violence have tried to find better lives in more peaceful, supposedly civilised countries.  Can Cyprus call itself that? 

O God, Your children of all colours have been hurt by racism.  Help us heal together.  Help us do the inner work to be open to Your grace and to the 'balm of Gilead', so that our hearts are converted and we can join hands to do the constructive work of love and justice.  We ask this through Christ our Lord.  Amen.  

Big Brother Kokos

Town halls in Cyprus are to be given more police-like powers under new reforms by the Ministry of Justice, Peter Stevenson reports in the CM today.

Town hall officials objected to his fashion sense

This is "so that the police can concentrate on solving serious crimes", Justice Minister Jonas Nicolaou said. 

Because they haven’t been able to concentrate so far, poor things. Or solve crimes.  

Under the new structure, local authorities will have the power to issue fines to motorists committing driving offences, nightclub and bar owners breaking no smoking laws, licensing permits and noise pollution laws.  The municipalities will also be directly responsible for animal welfare and health and safety on beaches. 

Animal welfare in Cyprus?  I love it when government ministers give me a good laugh. 

Stavros says: "I'm gonna be alright"

Driving offences subject to municipal fines will include:

·         Running red lights

·         Leaving a car unlocked (???)

·         Exceeding the number of passengers (???)

·         Illegally changing lanes

·         Cars with tinted windows!  (Does that include the presidential motorcade and government ministers' cars?)

Otherwise, just about all drivers in Cyprus then.   

Not on the list:  double parking; talking on a mobile phone while driving; failing to stop for pedestrians at zebra crossings; using the horn to greet friends, celebrate football victories or weddings; revving the engine and squealing tyres pretending you’re in the Grand Prix.  Guess all that's ok, phew.  

So presumably we shall soon see civil servants dressed like Robocops whizzing around on huge BMW motorbikes, tasering absent-minded old lady drivers who’ve forgotten to lock their car.  Much more fun for the bureaucrats than sitting at a desk all day.   

Mr. Nicolaou of the Ministry of Injustice said the changes are being implemented “slowly” (No! Really?) and that a study was completed by “experts” who found that some police departments in Cyprus were all performing the same job, i.e. the job of doing nothing.  The police will be relieved to hear that under the new plans they will have even less to do. 

turtles at Lara Beach said:  "we applaud the changes"

Take heart, folks.  We can look forward a new blissful era of Utopian Cyprus where all citizens and authorities will uphold the law.  There will be no crime, corruption, or law-breaking because of high levels of state efficiency and public altruism.  We will have spotlessly clean beaches and streets, no stray dogs or cats, courteous drivers, and bars playing gentle Gregorian Chant music sung by Carthusian monks. 

They that forsake the law praise the wicked man.  They that keep it are incensed against him.

- Proverbs 28:4 (D-R)

What if my house be troubled with a rat?

The largest university of Cyprus, the University of Nicosia, has become the first university of the world to accept Bitcoins, the CM reports. 

Umm, should they be boasting about this? 

future students of the Uni of Nicosia

CNN has called Bitcoins a “shady online currency".  The cryptocurrency's associations with money laundering, cyberhacking, theft, deception, and tax evasion have sparked past interest from the FBI.  

The uni's Chief Financial Officer, Dr. Christos Vlachos, told the CM that criminal activities are conducted with all forms of currency.  Oh, that's alright, then!  Thanks, Dr., for telling us the university of Nicosia is not that bothered about financial abuse.

Dr. Vlachos, there is a very good reason why no other university of the world accepts this dodgy payment method.  It makes the university and the country look dodgy.  Can you imagine the Russell Group or the Ivy League doing it?  

Dr. Vlachos unashamedly tells the CM that the University of Nicosia’s decision is designed to “help” African countries!  Ahahahaha.  Good one.  Will these “students” actually be physically attending courses at the university?  Who will be monitoring that?  

The University of Nicosia is an independent (private) institution.  According to the uni's website, non-EU undergraduate tuition fees range from 9,090 euro to 11,550 euro per annum, not including bursaries.  For Masters degree programmes, fees are 10,800 to 18,240 euro p.a.  Not exactly cheap.  I don’t know what those fees are worth in Bitcoins, Congolese francs, or Russian rubles, but according to a Wall Street Journal (NY) report, the value of the Bitcoin is subject to wild fluctuations because it depends on the willingness of users to accept them.  In theory, their value could crash any time, making it impossible for these "students" to continue paying their fees, while the uni pockets the cash.  

In Iran, Bitcoins are used to avoid international currency sanctions. In other countries, the currency is associated with online gambling and pay-to-view pornography, drug trafficking and arms trading.  

A Bloomberg report of March 2013 (around the time the Cyprus financial crisis exploded) suggested the current economic mess of Cyprus is linked to the use of Bitcoins on the island.

A Wired (UK) study of April 2013 showed that nearly half (45%) of all Bitcoin exchanges end up being shut down, with merchants taking their clients’ Bitcoins with them.  

Even the inventor of Bitcoins uses a fake name! 

Oh dear.  In the wake of the Troika's concern about Russian money laundering in Cyprus, is this the sort of public image Cyprus should be advertising to the world?  The University of Nicosia might as well start selling online fake degrees. 

See definition of Avarice.

No man can serve two masters.  For either he will hate the one, and love the other: or he will sustain the one, and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon. 

- Matthew 6:24 (D-R)

Chinese whispers

The Vatican survey on family life that is causing a palaver around the world has been widely reported as a global poll for all lay Catholics.  This is mistaken, the US National Catholic Register reported.  

According to the NCR, the Vatican is asking for data from bishops, not from individual lay Catholics worldwide. It is up to the relevant Bishop (or Archbishop) of a Diocese how he collects the data, if he has been so instructed.

This makes sense.  It is unrealistic to expect the Holy See to sift through and collate the extensive opinions of 1.2 billion Catholics worldwide. 

So unless you are living within a Catholic Diocese that has been specifically instructed, and unless you have heard otherwise from your parish priest, it is safe to assume that your participation in the survey is not required.  To do so, would only be a waste of time both for you and for the Holy See, and your answers may not be included in the statistical results.

For British Catholics abroad, the Catholic Church in England & Wales says in response to the frequently asked question:  "I live in another country, can I make my response using your survey?" - "Although we have already received a number of responses from around the world, we would strongly encourage those outside England and Wales not to use our survey, but to seek their own response routes at local level.  The principle of subsidiarity guides the pastoral care of marriage and family life.  We will make every effort to get responses to the relevant bishops' conference but this will make additional demands on our very limited resources." 

In other words, don't do it, kids.  If in doubt, ask your parish priest.  

Another case of the secular media misinterpreting the announcements of The Church (again).  

The Holy See's preparatory document on the Pastoral Challenges to the Family in the context of Evangelisation for the Synod of Bishops 2014 may be read in full here.  

And such confidence we have, through Christ, towards God.  Not that we are sufficient to think anything of ourselves, as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God.  

- 2 Corinthians 3:4-5 (D-R)

Christmas Bazaar 2013

St. Joseph's Convent, Larnaca, built 1844
also called St. Joseph of the Apparition
Grk: Καλογριές (kalogries), literally, 'nuns'

One day only:

Sunday 8th December 2013
from 10 am to 3 pm
at St. Joseph's Convent, Larnaca
(just off Gregoris Afxentiou Avenue)

Lots of stalls!  Giveaway prices!  

• Second-hand clothes, shoes and bags in good condition
• Used books & DVDs
• Christmas decorations
• Children's toys and games
• Bric-a-brac
• Home made cakes, jams and international food
• Tombola and raffle with great prizes donated by local businesses
• Tea & coffee on tap

and, new this year:

BRAND NEW WEDDING DRESSES 
at discounted prices

kindly donated by a local shop

***

All proceeds will go towards the Association of St. Joseph, Protector of the Needy. This charity has no overheads.  All funds are spent on helping the poor and needy in Cyprus.

***
Go early to get the best bargains!  

To donate items for sale, drop them off at the convent before Saturday 7th December 2013.  
Clothes should be clean and pressed, preferably on coat hangers.  
If you're a Catholic, resident in the Larnaca area, and would like to volunteer to man a stall, contact Sister Thomas, tel. 24 652449.
Stalls for personal profit are not possible.  This is a charity fund raiser for St. Joseph's. 

Map - click to enlarge

If you live in Cyprus or know people who do, please share this post, facebook it, blog it, tweet it, email it, Google+ it.  Tabs just below.  

Added 8th December 2013 - evening:  THIS EVENT IS NOW CLOSED.  There might be another bazaar at St. Joseph's around Easter 2014.  If you would like to contribute to the St. Joseph's Association and help local families in need, please drop off your donation at the convent.  Thank you for your interest.  

I am not an animal! I am a human being!

You’d have to have a heart of stone not to be moved by the photos of Pope Francis blessing a disfigured man that went viral around the world last week. 

Vinicio Riva, 53, an Italian who suffers with a rare genetic disease that gives him painful growths all over his body, told Italian news magazine, Panorama, that when the Pope embraced him he felt only love, the Daily Mail (UK) reports today. 

Joseph Merrick, aka John Merrick
1862 - 1890

All his life, Mr. Riva has been shunned and reviled.  He has probably never known the loving caress of a woman.  He will probably never have children.  Even doctors have been horrified by his appearance.  He has undergone numerous operations on his heart, throat and eyes.  He has difficulties walking because of the growths on his feet.  A torturous, lifelong prison of pain that might shake the faith of weaker, lesser men and women.  What kind of cruel deity would want to inflict such suffering on His creation?  Job's complaint.  

Yet Mr. Riva’s faith is a shining example to us all.  Through his faith and the love of his Church, he experiences the love of Christ.  He is united with Christ in His suffering, and Christ lives in him and through him.

In a world obsessed by artificial beauty and outward appearances – boob jobs, nose jobs, false nails, false eyelashes, hair extensions, teeth whitening – it is easy to forget the question:  what does our soul look like?  How beautiful or ugly is that? 

checked your soul recently?

On Larnaca seafront, I regularly see the same man begging with a plastic cup.  He has a deformed, paralysed hand, he shuffles with a limp, and he has a speech impediment.  He is lucky if he gets a few coins on a busy day.  Most people turn away in revulsion, back to their frappes and inane conversations.

There is another man, probably in his mid-50s, white haired, with mental health problems.  He walks around the town all day shouting to himself or to anyone who will listen.  Not many do. 

I have seen a father who takes his Downs Syndrome teenage son for walks along the promenade.  People stare at them.

 

These are our modern day ‘Elephant Men’.

The CTO, the semi-governmental authority that oversees tourism in Cyprus, boasts on its website that there are wheelchair facilities at the airports, and disabled parking places in public car parks and on public roads.  Woohoo.  How many wheelchair users do you see in Cyprus?  How many cracked, broken pavements make wheelchair use impossible? 

Where are all the blind, all the Downs Syndrome children, all the disabled, and the physically deformed of Cyprus?  Shut behind closed doors.  Cared for by institutions and their families, perhaps (we hope) - if they are lucky to have them - but out of sight and out of mind. At least in the collective public consciousness. 

Loving God, you teach us that the power of the Holy Spirit means more than any human limitation or weakness.  Through surrender to Your will, may we bear witness to the truth that the source of our human dignity is not the outward condition of the body, but our likeness to the Creator.  We ask this through Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Saint Germaine Cousin, 1579-1601:  French saint and intercessor for the disabled, the sick, the unattractive, the abused and the poor.  Her body remained incorrupt after death.

St. Germaine Cousin
Feast Day:  15th June

Beau Rivage? More like Rivage Ruine

Following up on the Gay Sex Crimes story from four days ago...

Google the Beau Rivage hotel Larnaca and you will find several websites not publishing the truth about this Godforsaken place, e.g. "The regularly refurbished Beau Rivage Hotel is a bustling beachfront resort some 7 kilometres from the heart of the beautiful town of Larnaca.  It is surrounded by verdant landscape as well as some exciting attractions and leisure opportunities, offering a pleasant place to rest after a long day of getting lost in town..."

These pictures were taken on my camera today, 19^th November 2013, around 1 p.m. local time.  All photos are copyrighted to Footsteps.  

"... regularly refurbished..."

"... a bustling beachfront resort..."

"... surrounded by verdant landscape..."

"... some exciting attractions..."

"... and leisure opportunities..."

"... a pleasant place to rest ..."

The Touch Blue development company, which appears to own this sick building, is registered to a Nicosia address according to this.  It's also listed on Cyprus Best Companies, where it claims to "complement and add value to the specific environment".  The CEO is Joseph Vrahimis, a Cypriot.  The same company was named in the recent dodgy 20m euro land deals involving CYTA, the state telecommunications authority.  

Strange that tourist numbers in Cyprus are down, huh?

For what things a man shall sow, those also shall he reap.  For he that soweth in his flesh also shall reap corruption.  But he that soweth in the spirit, of the spirit shall reap life everlasting.  - Epistle of St. Paul to the Galatians 6:8 (D-R) 

Booming!

The urban myth that the Catholic Church is in decline was boshed by the secular press this weekend, with a documented increase in Mass attendance numbers globally, the Sunday Times (UK) reported on its front page yesterday.

Thumbs up

The ST, a secular British newspaper, conducted a survey of 22 Catholic cathedrals in England and Wales, 13 of which responded, 11 of which reported a boost in congregation numbers compared to this time last year.  

Out of those 11 parishes, 9 supplied specific figures, which the ST collated.  The results confirm an overall surge of 21% in Catholic congregations across Britain.  The largest rises were noted in Leeds (35%), Sheffield (23%) and Bristol (20%).  The new congregants include both new converts and lapsed Catholics returning to The Church. 

Meanwhile, according to the ST, similar surges in Mass attendance have been reported across Europe - particularly Italy, Spain and France - as well as in Latin America and the US.  In Italy, researcher Massimo Introvigne said hundreds of thousands of people might be returning to The Church. In Rome last month, the ST reports, the Pope’s weekly address had to be moved to St. Peter’s Square to accommodate the 85,000-strong crowd - 17 times higher than the average 5,000 Pope Benedict’s weekly address attracted.

'ere we go, 'ere we go, 'ere we go...

The attributed reason?  The “Francis Effect”.  The global surge in faith has occurred since the election of Pope Francis on 13th March 2013.  The influx of Mass attendees has been attributed to the “breath of fresh air” Pope Francis is blowing through The Church.  The numbers speak for themselves:  the world loves Pope Francis and his humble leadership.   Check out the Holy Father’s latest actions on Vatican News. 

Sceptics may pooh-pooh the survey results as “made up”, or question how clerics can determine the exact numbers of a congregation, especially in large churches, such as St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, where thousands congregate.  That’s easy:  priests count how many Communion Hosts (Communion wafers) the tabernacle holds at the start of a Mass, and count the number of Hosts left at the end.  The net figure gives the precise number of Communicants at each and every Mass.  These figures are usually recorded in parish ledgers, for posterity and for Diocesan records.  

at the Copa ... Copacabana... (cue Barry Manilow music)
- Pope Francis in Brazil, July 2013

Communicants meaning those in full communion with the Catholic Church, i.e. not including the unbaptised, those not yet receiving Holy Communion, e.g. children below the age of reason, new adult converts still receiving Catechism, members of other faiths not yet received into the Catholic Church, lapsed Catholics, and other non-Communicants.  Therefore, the actual number of congregants may be even higher if it were to include all the non-Communicants.  All non-Communicants may still attend Mass and receive a blessing of course. 

This truly has been a Year of Faith, instituted by Pope Benedict XVI, during which more than 8.2 million pilgrims have visited Rome, setting the groundwork for the future Church.  

1.2 billion Catholics around the world can't all be wrong.  

Tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam, et portae inferi non praevalebunt adversus eam.  Et tibi dabo claves Regni coelorum.  Quodcumque ligaveris super terram, erit ligatum et in coelis.  Et quodcumque solveris super terram, erit solutum et in coelis.

Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.  And I will give thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven.  And whatsoever thou shall bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven. 

- Matthew 16:18-19 (Douay-Rheims & Latin Vulgate)