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International Cuisine Conference on Traditional Asian Diet Panaji, Goa, September 2-5, 2007 - http://www.indologygoa.in Online Media Partner: http://www.goanet.org ------------------------------------------------------------------------ George, Selma, Sunith, CA and others... With everything else said under this subject heading and as a prior member of this 'men's club' who has been sworn to secrecy, I thought I'd pass on some history which may not be available through Google. For all their shiny armaments, the Knights are NOT followers of 'murderous' Christopher Columbus but used his illustrious(?) Catholic name to give credibility to a secret society that was created to stem the defection of poor Irish immigrants from the Church. Fr. Michael McGiveney used the model of the most successful secret society, Freemasonry, to create a Catholic men's organization that would look after the financial interests of the poor Catholic families in the Boston area. This insurance program is now highly rated and is the mainstay of the Knights financial solvency. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060776846 The fraternal brotherhood of the Knights of Columbus has also morphed into a formidable political force, using their influence through the dwindling Catholic congregations to promote the political agenda of the Vatican without incurring the penalties which would arise from overt interference by the Church into matters of the State. They were largely responsible for the insertion of the words "under God" into the otherwise secular American Pledge of Allegiance. http://atheism.about.com/b/a/004533.htm Kevin Saldanha Mississauga, ON. -- Be impeccable with your word - Don Miguel Ruiz http://www.nderf.org/4AgreementsReview.htm