To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - July 28, 1999 TV Programs
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 08:26:01 +0000
From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>
6:00 PM Eastern
HIST - HIGH POINTS IN HISTORY - Hitler: The Blackmailer
8:00
FOX - SIGNS FROM GOD: SCIENCE TESTS FAITH - A woman with
stigmata; images of Jesus and Mary in rose petals; a statue
of Jesus that bleeds.(CC)(TVPG) [Live shows supposedly uses
science to prove/disprove claims.]
DISC - INSIDE AIR FORCE ONE - The recent history of the
presidential plane.(CC)(TVG)
TBS - NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXPLORER - Red Baron;
Manfred Von Richthofen; Iran: Behind the
Veil.(CC)(TVG)(Starts 8:05pm) (Ends 10:05pm)
TLC - EXTREME MACHINES - "Flight Power" - Unusual aircraft;
homemade plane has a lawn-mower engine; NASA's solar-powered
planes; vertical take-off and landing
planes.(CC)(TVG)
9:30
TBN - JACK VAN IMPE PRESENTS
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Weekend News Today items (7/27/99)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 08:47:15 +0000
From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>
Jordanian Jerusalem committee warns of invasion of Al Aqsa mosque
Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: Arabic News
Tue Jul 27,1999 -- The secretary general of Jordanian royal committee
for Jerusalem affairs, Abdallah Kanaan, said that the decision of the
Israeli Supreme Court to allow the (Israeli) guards of the building to
perform their religious rituals at Al Aqsa mosque forms a violation of
the holiness of the mosque, the first Kibah for the Moslems' emotions.
In an official statement released yesterday, Kanaan said it's a very
dangerous decision for all legal traditions and criteria and paves the
way for decisions leading to greater invasions targeting Al Aqsa
mosque itself. He added that the general trusteeship of the royal
committee for Jerusalem matters warned the Israeli government of
neglecting such decisions.
Barak says the whole world is watcing
Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: Ha'aretz
Tue Jul 27,1999 -- Prime Minister Ehud Barak said yesterday during a
meeting with members of his party that the entire world was watching
to see how the government would operate in its first few days, and was
waiting for the process of expanding the cabinet to be completed.
"Arafat, Assad, Bouteflika, Ben-Ali, Washington, Paris and London, are
all watching to see if this government can start working seriously or
whether is is paralyzed from the inside and psychologically
neutralized, before it has even begun." Barak also used the
opportunity to urge legislators in the Constitution, Law and Justice
Committee to hurry up and approve the necessary amendment to the Basic
Law on Government, so that the bill can be sent on to the full Knesset
for a vote.
Palestinians agree with Israel on industrial park in West Bank
Weekend News Today
By Kelly Pagatpatan
Source: AP
Tue Jul 27,1999 -- Israel and the Palestinians agreed Tuesday to begin
work on a joint industrial park in the West Bank, but site
preparations and paperwork must be completed before construction
begins. The park will be built along the invisible dividing line
between Israel and the West Bank, near the northern West Bank town of
Jenin. It will be able to house up to 300 companies, said the
Palestinian industry minister, Sadi Krunz. A similar joint industrial
park opened earlier this year near the Karni crossing on the border
between Israel and the Gaza Strip. Under Israeli-Palestinian economic
agreements that accompanied the interim land-for-peace accords,
several joint industrial parks were to be established. The aim was to
strengthen the peace accords by boosting the Palestinian economy and
creatings jobs for thousands of Palestinians.
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Infobeat News items (7/28/99)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 08:51:53 +0000
From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>
*** Arafat agrees to mull Wye delay
EREZ CROSSING, Gaza Strip (AP) - Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat
reluctantly agreed Tuesday to consider for two weeks Israeli Prime
Minister Ehud Barak's request to delay Israeli territorial pullbacks
from the West Bank. Barak made the request during more than two hours
of talks at a steamy no-man's land separating the Gaza Strip from
Israel. Despite promising to consider it, Arafat made clear he was not
inclined to agree to any slowdown in Israeli withdrawals mandated
under the U.S.-brokered Wye accord. "We must see the precise, accurate
implementation of agreements signed on the basis of reciprocity," the
Palestinian leader said at a joint news conference held immediately
after the session. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2560462216-40f
*** UN pays tribute to JFK Jr.
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - An Indian guru played the flute. A choral group
sang a song he wrote that began "John, John, John Kennedy." And
tributes were read from around the world from Nelson Mandela, Elie
Weisel and Carl Lewis, to name a few. There were no famous faces in
the audience, just ordinary people who came to the United Nations
Tuesday to honor an American president's son who made his own mark
during his 38 years. The celebration was organized by guru Sri
Chinmoy, who runs The Peace Meditation group at the United Nations,
and the U.N. staff's Society of Writers. It included tributes from
around the globe for John F. Kennedy Jr., who died with his wife and
her sister when their plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2560459062-a75
*** Kids' charity lifts gay adoption ban
LONDON (AP) - A leading children's charity affiliated with the Church
of England has lifted its ban on allowing gay people to foster and
adopt children. The Children's Society said Tuesday it has decided to
consider placing children with homosexuals because of a shortage of
families willing to take on problem children. The change of policy
also aligns the charity with British government guidelines that
recommend people should not be excluded from adopting or fostering
children because they are gay. The decision divided officials at the
highest levels of the Church of England, which takes a strict line
against homosexuality, but a spokesman said the Church continued to
support the charity. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2560459540-b19
*** Ga. sect alarms neighbors
EATONTON, Ga. (AP) - A sect founded by an ex-convict has built two
40-foot pyramids and a giant sphinx amid the pines and red clay of
middle Georgia, alarming some with its armed guards and prophecies of
deliverance by spaceships from another galaxy. The sheriff and the
sect had an armed confrontation in April when he tried to escort a
building inspector onto the property, and tensions are running so high
that mediators from the U.S. Justice Department were called in earlier
this summer. The members call themselves the Yamassee Native American
Nuwaubians and claim to have created a utopian society on their
476-acre compound of Egyptian-style architecture. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2560453755-c2f
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Russia Today items (7/28/99)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 09:30:19 +0000
From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>
U.S., RUSSIA TO HOLD ARMS CONTROL TALKS IN AUGUST
WASHINGTON -- The United States and Russia will open talks on a new
round of nuclear arms cuts in Moscow next month, U.S. and Russian
officials said on Tuesday.
http://www.russiatoday.com/news.php3?id=81737&text
STEPASHIN PROMISES TO CRACKDOWN ON ANTI-SEMITISM
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Jewish leaders met visiting Russian Prime Minister
Sergei Stepashin on Tuesday and said he had pledged to crack down on
anti-Semitism. http://www.russiatoday.com/news.php3?id=81857&text
RUSSIA ORDERS MINISTRIES' REPORT ON Y2K READINESS
MOSCOW -- Russia's government has issued an order to its officials and
ministries, telling them to report within a month on their readiness
to deal with the millennium bug problem, Russian news agencies said on
Tuesday. http://www.russiatoday.com/news.php3?id=81853&text
RUSSIA AND IRAN VOW TO STOP SPREAD OF NUCLEAR ARMS
MOSCOW -- Russia and Iran have pledged to work together to stop the
spread of nuclear missiles in the Middle East, Russia's Foreign
Ministry said on Tuesday.
http://www.russiatoday.com/news.php3?id=81848&text
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Arabia On Line items (7/28/99)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 12:23:15 +0000
From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>
Traffic Restrictions Set in France for August 11 Eclipse
PARIS (AFP) -- French Transport Minister Jean-Claude Gayssot on
Wednesday announced travel bans for lorries and restrictions on
motorists during the August 11 total solar eclipse to avoid the
risk of road accidents.
He also warned motorists not to wear the special protective
sunglasses which are being distributed across France to avoid
eye damage during the last such eclipse of the millennium.
Gayssot said that lorries over 7.5 tones would be banned from
the roads during the critical hours and that motorists would be
advised to stay off the roads between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
http://www.arabia.com/content/living/7_99/france_2.shtml
Israeli City Names Street for Morocco's King Hassan
Tiberias has become the first Israeli city to name a street after
Morocco's King Hassan II, who passed away last week in Rabat.
http://www.arabia.com/content/living/7_99/israel_28.shtml
WHO Tracks Animal Viruses Which Infect Humans
WHO is tracking animal viruses which have caused epidemics among
humans in Malaysia and Australia.
http://www.arabia.com/content/living/7_99/who_28.shtml
Alexandria's Ancient Library Resurrected
http://www.arabia.com/content/culture/7_99/alex_28.shtml
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Arutz-7 News items (7/28/99)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 12:27:29 +0000
From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>
1. PA REJECT BARAK'S PROPOSALS, WILL THINK ABOUT THEM FOR 2 WEEKS The
Palestinians claim to be "very disappointed" with last night's meeting
between Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Yasser Arafat, labeling it a
"resounding failure." A senior Palestinian Authority official said
that there has not been, and will never be, a change in the
Palestinian position opposing a delay in the implementation of the Wye
withdrawals. Officially, however, Arafat said he would respond to
Barak's proposals in two weeks. Nabil Sha'ath, PA Planning Head,
stated that Barak "must stop talking and start acting "- and that
Barak, too, "has blood on his hands." Palestinian negotiator Sa'eb
Erekat, too, came away with predictably hardened positions after
meeting this afternoon with Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Mussa.
Erekat said that Arafat intends to phone Clinton tonight and ask for
his help in rejecting Barak's proposals.
Arutz-7 correspondent Haggai Huberman reports that Israel is quite
satisfied with the talks last night, and that the public Palestinians
statements are for external consumption only. "Arafat's acceptance of
the two-week period is a good sign," he said. "It happened like this:
Foreign Minister David Levy told Barak that it would not be advisable
to simply present Arafat with a demand, or request, to change the
agreement. Instead, Levy said, Arafat should be given time to think
about it, so that the ball will be in his court, and that he will be
the one to make the decision. While Barak was meeting with Arafat,
Levy procured Abu Mazen's agreement to the two-week idea. Meanwhile,
Barak was telling Arafat that the proposal to carry out a smaller
Israeli withdrawal in exchange for lesser Palestinian compliance of
other Wye clauses had several benefits for the Palestinians. Barak
told him that if he continued to insist on the current arrangements,
the coming talks would revolve exclusively around the next stage of
the Wye Agreement, and that Israel would demand full Palestinian
compliance on reducing their police forces, collecting weapons, and
the like, and that these negotiations could take months - during which
time, no one could know what might happen with the Syrian talks.
Barak said that he simply could not hold two sets of intensive
negotiations at once, and that basically it's first come, first
served. Final-status talks now between Barak and Arafat would put
Syria on hold for a while, to the benefit of Arafat." The PA chairman
agreed to consider the proposal during the coming two weeks.
"Not many people realize," continued Huberman, "that Arafat actually
returned from King Hassan's funeral in Morocco in very bad spirits -
and not only because he had just buried one of his staunch supporters.
Arafat saw the royal way in which the world leaders treated Barak,
and how the Arab leaders stood in line to shake his hand - even though
he has not yet given them anything! Arafat saw how Barak spoke freely
and frequently with U.S. President Clinton, while he, Arafat, was
barely able to approach Clinton. The point is that Barak, unlike
Netanyahu, has taken his own initiatives. The Americans like this,
and it is manifest in the new flowering relations between Clinton and
Barak - a return to the old 'special relationship' between the U.S.
and Israel. Arafat is no longer sure that the Americans will continue
to take his side, as they did in the past six months."
2. SHARON WARNS THAT BARAK WILL REMOVE YESHA TOWNS
Acting Likud Chairman Ariel Sharon, in a rare press interview today,
told Arutz-7 that he fears that Prime Minister Barak is not attempting
to "correct deficiencies" in the Wye Agreement, but rather to "prepare
the ground for an evacuation of several Yesha communities." Sharon
said, "Barak has said clearly and often that he will fulfill the Wye
agreement as written, while the Palestinians 'try' to keep their
commitments. This is not an improvement in Wye, but the opposite.
Wye clearly states that the Israeli withdrawals will be carried out
together with the implementation of Palestinian commitments."
Sharon took umbrage at Barak's recent criticism of the previous
government's supposed 'Wye withdrawal maps:' "There is no such thing
as a government withdrawal map, but only one prepared by the military.
He's the Defense Minister - if he wants, he can prepare a different
map! Why does he want to discuss these maps with Mubarak and Arafat -
he should talk to us, and he'll learn some things! We can help him
make other maps - I myself presented a version." When asked if he
would support Barak's diplomatic plans in the Knesset, Sharon said,
"If his proposals contribute to Israel's security and existence, we
will support them. If not, we will wage a staunch struggle, as is not
only our right, but our obligation as an opposition."
Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.a7.org>
Wednesday, July 28, 1999 / Av 15, 5759
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Creatures Feature Possible Defense Applications
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 13:04:55 +0000
From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>
[DoD=Department of Defense]
By Paul Stone
American Forces Press Service
[This article also appears in illustrated form on the
Defenselink News Web site
http://www.defenselink.mil/specials/bees/index.html]
WASHINGTON -- The recent buzz about honeybees as flying
mine detectors is just part of the story about how the
Pentagon is trying to enlist diverse members of the
zoological kingdom for military applications.
Add flies, beetles, lobsters and even geckos, and the full
range of species being studied starts to become clear. Add
creative thinking and technology and the range of possible
defense-related applications starts to boggle the mind.
All the above are part of three-year study sponsored by the
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. The purpose of
the study is not only to determine capabilities within the
zoological kingdom, but to see if they can be replicated in
ways beneficial to DoD, according to Alan Rudolph, program
manager in DARPA's Defense Sciences Office.
The study, known as the "Controlled Biological and
Biomimetic Systems" project, studies organisms from three
different perspectives.
First, as with the bees and moths, the program examines
whether an organism, without the aid of technology, can be
trained and used in direct support of a defense need such
as locating mines. Rudolph said this simply takes advantage
of existing biosystems to perform tasks.
The second perspective involves what Rudolph called
"biohybrids." This involves technologically boosting an
organism's natural abilities. Attaching radio tracking tags
to mine-detecting honeybees is an example of this. In this
case, the tags increase the bees' abilities to provide
timely and accurate information.
Biomimetics is the stuff of science fiction. This third
perspective involves creating a mechanical replicant that
can perform the same task as the organic original. That's
where the flies, beetles, lobsters and lizards come into
play.
In one project funded by DARPA, researchers at the
University of California at Berkeley have been studying the
aerodynamic abilities of flies, which can take off
backward, fly sideways and land upside down.
"For years, this has sort of confounded engineers," Rudolph
said. "They didn't understand the mechanics. A lot of the
biomimetics activity of the program looks at organisms and
their locomotion and navigation abilities, and then
searches for strategies to turn those abilities into
hardware."
Rudolph said scientists might be able to use what they
learn about flies to produce micro air surveillance
vehicles that can actually flap their wings. Most fixed-
wing vehicles can only get down to a certain size before
their aerodynamics become unstable, he said. A vehicle that
could flap its wings and maneuver in a variety of
situations would provide much greater possibilities and
capabilities.
Beetles are being studied for their sensing capabilities.
"The beetle seeks out burnt bark from forest fires to lay
its eggs," Rudolph said. "And the beetle can sense a forest
fire from as far as 50 to 70 kilometers out. So how does it
do that? It turns out it uses a combination of sensors,
some looking for the smoke, and some looking for the
infrared emission of the forest fire. So understanding the
beetles' unique organs and trying to mimic them may
actually help us build more sensitive and discriminating
devices to detect chemical or infrared emissions."
In a project at Northeastern University in Boston,
researchers are studying the lobster's locomotive skills to
see if devices could be built to help find mines that have
been placed in surf areas. Rudolph said the research has
centered on how lobsters maneuver about in the often rocky,
turbulent surf.
"It turns out lobsters actually ski around the area,"
Rudolph explained. "They have a way of controlling their
legs and posture so they basically avoid or maneuver around
all the obstacles. They don't get tumbled against rocks or
get tossed about. So mimicking that ability in a piece of
hardware is what the researchers at Northeastern are
looking at."
Anyone who has ever been in the tropics is likely familiar
with the innocent reptiles known as geckos. The small
lizards effortlessly climb walls and walk across ceilings.
It's these abilities researchers at the University of
California at Berkeley have been studying in a robotics
program.
"Researchers have been studying the properties of geckos
that enable them to do that," Rudolph said. It turns out
geckos have unique feet that are dry, yet still able to
stick to surfaces. As they move up a wall, he said, geckos
actually peel their feet from the surface and stick them
back on.
Rudolph said engineers at Berkeley have built a small wall-
climbing robotic gecko mimic, but it hasn't been tested for
defense purposes yet. "It has the potential for a variety
of defense applications," he said. "Maybe you'd like to
have it climb a wall or building and do surveillance or
other activities. It can go places where people can't."
He said the robotics aspect of the research program is part
of a more general military interest in legged robots. Most
robots today move on wheels and therefore have limited
mobility, he said.
"Legged robotics will likely eventually dominate because
they have a greater potential to deal with obstacles,"
Rudolph said. "Legged robots are probably the next
generation -- if we can figure out how to build them."
via: DEFENSE-PRESS-SERVICE-L@DTIC.MIL
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Bee Research
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 13:07:59 +0000
From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>
[DoD=Department of Defense]
By Paul Stone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON -- The latest buzz from the Pentagon is a honey
of a story: The military's trying to train bees to locate land mines.
And if a swarm of honeybees doesn't sound like your typical
military unit, how about a battalion of beetles, a legion of lobsters
and a gaggle of geckos? They've all been drafted into a DoD effort to
explore, and possibly harness, the natural capabilities of the
zoological kingdom.
DoD, through the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, is in the
midst of a three-year study to determine whether honeybees, equipped
with tiny radio frequency tags, can help detect land mines. But as
Alan Rudolph quickly pointed out, the current research with honeybees
is part of a larger research study of possible military-related uses
for crustaceans, insects and reptiles.
The larger research project is known as the "Controlled Biological and
Biomimetic Systems" program, said Rudolph, program manager in DARPA's
Defense Sciences Office. For more information on it, see the
accompanying story "Creatures Feature Possible Defense Applications."
First, the honeybees.
Under a $3 million program funded by DARPA, scientists and engineers
at various research and development centers across the United States
have been working with honeybees and developing technologies to turn
the insects into information collectors wearing tracking devices that
may help pinpoint mines within a designated area.
Later this year, engineers from the Pacific Northwest National
Laboratory and the University of Montana will fit 50 bees with the
radio tags and release them into a minefield to see if the combination
of insect and technology works. The tags, no larger than half a grain
of rice, will be attached to the backs of the bees.
Scientists will track the bees using complex electronics, software and
computers, some located in an engineered bee hive. Each time a bee
leaves the hive, scientists will know its direction of flight, points
where the bees landed and flight time. Inside the hive, special
sensors will scan for chemicals brought back on the bees' bodies.
Scientists believe the tracking information, combined with the
chemical analysis, will help pinpoint the locations of mines.
Why honeybees?
Rudolph said the insects have been used for many years to collect
environmental information, such as the presence of pollutants or trace
materials on plants. He said the Environmental Protection Agency
registered honeybees as valid data collectors -- their mop-like bodies
soak up any contaminants they contact. Additionally, Rudolph said
social animals such as bees and dogs are highly trainable and respond
well to positive reinforcement and rewards.
Sandia National Laboratory, near Albuquerque, N.M., is conducting a
sort of basic training for the bees this summer. The goal is for the
bees to recognize the smell of TNT and associate it with food. The
explosive routinely seeps from land mines and can be found on
surrounding plant life.
The training focuses on "associative learning." Rudolph said
scientists took sugar-soaked sponges mixed with traces of TNT to see
if the bees would swarm to them. They gradually reduced the sugar and
increased the TNT so the bees would begin to associate the smell of
TNT as a possible food source.
Part of the experiment also includes testing to see how far the bees
can be trained to locate the sugar-TNT mixture. Although emphasizing
the testing is still in the early stages, Rudolph said results thus
far indicate the bees may well prove useful for mine detection. After
just a few hours of training, the bees were traveling up to 100 yards
to reach the sponges.
Testing on the honeybees' "mine sniffing" abilities and the radio
frequency tags are proceeding smoothly, Rudolph said, but practical
applications are likely years away.
"The project now has a trailer that can deploy a dozen bee hives," he
said. "Presumably, it would be brought to a location, the hives would
be set up and within hours the bees would start to collect
information." Bees trained to associate TNT with food and equipped
with radio tags would swarm to mines, and the tags would help pinpoint
them, he said.
In addition to testing the bees' effectiveness in a controlled
minefield later this year and testing the technologies for receiving
and processing data from the RF tags, Rudolph said, researchers will
also be looking closely at bee behavior. For example, how far will
they travel to look for the food source? How efficiently do they
locate the mines? And how long do they retain the information learned
during training?
Tests will then shift from controlled to real-world situations. And
showing effectiveness under lab conditions and actual field
deployments are two different things, Rudolph said.
"We don't have visions of soldiers carrying bees into a fray," he
said. "We'll be seeking out defense customers interested in helping us
test some of these systems in real-world situations."
While the honeybees' mine detection training has received most of the
news media's attention recently, Rudolph pointed out that's but one
application being studied. Similar research is under way to determine
if bees might be useful in detecting chemical and biological agents.
Nor are bees the only insects being studied for such applications.
Testing is also ongoing to determine whether parasitic wasps can be
trained to associate food with byproducts released by chemical or
biological agents and to swarm where they might be stored. Similarly,
giant sphinx moths are being studied to see if they, like wasps, can
be trained to detect low levels of chemical compounds.
Man's best friend may indeed be a dog, but if DARPA's research
projects prove successful, a soldier's best friend may be the
creatures they now swat, stomp or shoo.
http://www.defenselink.mil/specials/bees/index.html
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Moon Burial for Geologist
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 13:10:40 +0000
From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>
Moon burial for geologist
By BBC News Online Science Editor Dr David Whitehouse
July 28, 1999
US geologist Gene Shoemaker, killed in a 1997 car crash in Australia,
is soon to become the first person to be buried on another planet.
When the tiny Lunar Prospector spacecraft crashes into a dark crater
near the Moon's south pole on Saturday, it will deposit onto the lunar
surface the ashes of the pioneering astro-geologist.
Major impact
He was a legend among geologists. Almost on his own he invented the
science of the study of cosmic impacts and he played a key role in
training the Apollo moonwalkers to explore the Moon in a scientific
manner.
Full story here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_405000/405944.stm
via: SEDSNEWS@listserv.tamu.edu
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Government plans to monitor computer networks
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 13:14:50 +0000
From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>
GOVERNMENT PLANS TO MONITOR COMPUTER NETWORKS
The Clinton Administration has developed a plan to create an
FBI-controlled monitoring system known as Fidnet (Federal
Intrusion Detection Network) to examine "patterns of patterns"
of activities on networks used by banking, telecommunications,
transportation and other crucial industries, in order to guard
against terrorists and criminals. Jeffrey Hunker of the National
Security Council's office of information protection says the
government knows of "a number of hostile foreign governments
that are developing sophisticated and well organized offensive
cyber attack capabilities." Civil liberties groups are critical
of the still-unfinished plan. James X. Dempsey of the Center
for Democracy and Technology says the Clinton Administration
"clearly recognizes the civil liberties implications" of the
plan. "But it brushes them away." And Georgetown University
professor Mary Culnan says "The fight over this could make the
fight over encryption look like nothing. The conceptual problem
is that there are people running this program who don't
understand how citizens feel about privacy in cyberspace." (New
York Times 28 Jul 99)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/07/biztech/articles/28compute.html
via: "NewsScan" <newsscan@newsscan.com>
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - What's Going on in the Gold Market?
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 08:41:29 -0500
From: owner-bpr@philologos.org
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_dougherty/19990727_xnjdo_wh
ats_goin.shtml
WEDNESDAY JULY 28 1999
What's going on in the gold market? Critics claim market is
being manipulated
By Jon E. Dougherty © 1999 WorldNetDaily.com
Veteran traders and gold mining companies say the price of gold
is being artificially held down to prevent huge losses by key
lending institutions.
Chairmen and chief executives at Canada's Placer Dome, U.S.
miners Newmont Gold and Homestake Mining, South Africans
Anglogold and Gold Fields and Ghana's Ashanti Goldfields have
been seeking answers primarily from British Prime Minister Tony
Blair on the Bank of England's May 7 decision to sell over half
of the country's 750 tons of gold reserves.
They charge that the sales were prompted by the desire to bail
out lending firms running short positions in gold, but so far
neither Blair nor anyone in the Clinton administration --which
supported the Bank of England's decision -- is addressing the
questions.
Worse, the International Monetary Fund is contemplating a
British-style sell-out that will, say critics of the plan,
further erode the trading value of gold, despite gold's
traditional economic prowess. Great Britain and the U.S. also
support the IMF sell-off plan, which is ostensibly being
contemplated to raise money to cover the debt of poor nations
that have not been able to repay the IMF.
While few experts are openly charging U.S. and British leaders
with a conspiracy, they do say these and other actions have
resulted in a 10 percent fall in gold prices since spring. And
because of the manner in which the sales have been handled, they
amount to de facto manipulation of the gold market at a time
when prices don't equal demand.
Last year gold production amounted to some 2,550 tons but gold
borrowings were over three times as high at around 8,000 tons.
While production has remained steady, short-term borrowing on
gold has increased since then.
Critics say at issue is the practice of key lending
institutions allowing gold bullion dealers to borrow inflated
amounts of gold, which they then sell onto the market at a
profit. If prices rise unexpectedly or before dealers sell the
borrowed gold, both lender and borrower stand to lose billions
of dollars. That's because deals are being made with gold that
has not yet been mined out of the ground and, if prices remain
low, may never be.
Earlier this year, after months of depressed prices, gold began
making a comeback and reached nearly $300 an ounce. But when the
Bank of England announced a plan to sell most of Great Britain's
gold reserves, prices froze and then plummeted to their current
level --about $250 an ounce.
The pre-sale announcement by the British bank was seen as
irregular and "set off alarm bells around the world," according
to one source.
"No other central bank has announced a gold sale prior to its
completion in more than 20 years," wrote Gold Anti-Trust Action
Committee Chairman Bill Murphy in a letter to Sen. Phil Gramm, R-
Texas, July 20. "And the Bank of England's announcement was made
as the gold price was storming past a key gold loan borrowing
point and interest in the gold market was finally rising again."
Murphy also wrote, "Because of the way the Bank of England sale
was announced, we also suspect that the current administration
(perhaps the Federal Reserve or U.S. Treasury) may be active in
the gold market through a trading account at Goldman Sachs. ...
Therefore," he added, "(they) may have some role in the
orchestration of a lower gold price."
Britain's Prime Minister Blair has defended his country's gold
sale, saying it was necessary because the "price of gold has
been falling for over two years." He defended it as a "prudent
measure" designed to "save the taxpayers" from suffering huge
losses.
Murphy, in his letter to Sen. Gramm, refuted Blair's
explanation, adding that if England wanted to "get the best
deal" for British taxpayers they would not have announced the
sale in advance -- a move that was sure to make the price of
gold fall.
"The best deal the Bank of England could have gotten would have
been $30-$40 more per ounce by carrying out the sale as all the
other major countries have done for 20 years," he said.
Ironically, Murphy said, no one is taking direct responsibility
for the Bank of England's plan to sell the country's gold
reserves. Murphy noted in his letter that Blair, the Bank of
England, and the nation's agency equivalent to the U.S. Treasury
Department have all indicated the idea did not originate with
them.
Meanwhile the U.S. Mint reported that gold sales continued to
be brisk in 1999, with more than 67 percent of the maximum
mintage of proof gold Eagles already sold to the public since
April 30.
"Total sales of the proof gold Eagles are up 16 percent over
the first 12 weeks of the program last year," said Mint Director
Philip N. Diehl, "with sales of the one ounce and quarter ounce
coins up 45 percent and 33 percent, respectively."
Diehl said, "These are the highest totals at this stage of the
program since 1996, so we want to let customers know that the
strong early sales we announced in mid-June are continuing at a
very high pace."
A spokesman for the mint declined to comment about why the
price of gold continues to be low despite the increased demand.
"We're a government agency and because of that I can't comment
on that," he told WorldNetDaily.
Robby Noel, a spokesman for Patriot Trading Group, a U.S. gold
wholesaler, said the reason for the proposed IMF sell-off is
dubious at best.
"The IMF said they want to sell their gold reserves to relieve
the debts of poor countries," he said. "If that's the case, then
they're going about it all wrong because many African countries
will be hit the hardest if they do, and supposedly those are the
countries they are claiming to be trying to help."
Noel said many Africans, especially in South Africa, face lay-
offs in the tens of thousands if the IMF sells their gold. The
sell-off would likely cause gold prices to fall even further and
thus, force mining companies to lay off more workers in order to
remain viable. Currently, he said, gold is selling for less
money per ounce than it takes to actually mine it out of the
ground.
As to why the IMF would consider such a move that is obviously
destined to hurt, rather than help, the economies they are
allegedly trying to save, Noel had no answer.
"Maybe it's because gold is honest money and these are immoral
men," he told WorldNetDaily. "Outside of that, I have no idea
why they (Britain and the IMF) would do what they've done or are
planning to do."
"I do believe when 'the panic' hits there will likely be little
physical gold to go around," he added.
[BPRnote: The letter to Sen. Phil Gramm mentioned above
may be found at http://www.egroups.com/group/gata/165.html.
It is rather long, so I have opted not to send it through
the list. If for some reason you are unable to access this
site, I'll be happy to forward you a copy of the letter.]
--- BPR
BPR Web Site - http://philologos.org/bpr
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Russian town panicked over mysterious illness
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 11:36:55 -0500
From: <owner-bpr@philologos.org>
Russian town panicked over mysterious illness
July 27, 1999
4:36 p.m. EDT
OBLIVSKAYA, Russia (CNN) -- All windows are shut tight in this
southern Russia town, despite the summer heat.
Food markets are abandoned.
The only movement in town is an ambulance.
"We're afraid we're going to die, so no one goes outside," said a
woman named Masha.
Masha's year-old daughter is one of dozens of townspeople who have
fallen ill. The World Health Organization said July 26 that laboratory
tests confirmed 65 cases of Crimean-Congo fever. The WHO said at
least six people have died from the disease, including three children.
The disease causes bleeding from the ears and nose. Eventually, the
disease destroys blood vessels and the nervous system.
Disease has struck before
A similar epidemic struck parts of southern Russia 30 years ago. But
Russian doctors don't know why it came back.
"We don't know the exact reason why this disease has returned here
now," said Dr. Alexander Garnosik with Oblivskaya Hospital.
The health ministry ruled out quarantine. It maintains blood-sucking
insects like fleas and ticks spread the disease.
Patients getting only vitamins
The only treatment offered by doctors so far is vitamin C. That has the
town running wild with rumors about how to fight the outbreak.
Some residents think vodka will protect them.
"Even people who don't drink vodka are drinking now to keep the
sickness away," said construction worker Pyotr Smirnov. "Families are
trying to store up bottles."
Even health care workers aren't able to protect themselves. Basics like
surgical masks and gloves are in short supply.
Three doctors are among those infected.
Little help for panicked town
So far national authorities have done little to stem the panic that has
overwhelmed Oblivskaya, a thousand kilometers, or about 600 miles,
south of Moscow in Russia's Rostov region.
Residents in a neighboring town were so afraid, they tore down a
bridge to keep the disease away.
"My fianc=E9 is from the next town, but he's been afraid to cross the
bridge since the sickness started," said one woman whose marriage is
on hold.
But new reports of infection have slowed in recent days, giving hope
that the worst may be over. And trains have been ordered to begin
stopping again in Oblivskaya.
via: Newmill <hblonde1@tampabay.rr.com>
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Heat Wave Blamed For Two Dozen Deaths
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 11:36:55 -0500
From: <owner-bpr@philologos.org>
[BPRnote: Note the last three paragraphs that speak of long range
climate conditions and "dune reactivation."]
July 27 4:22 PM ET
Heat Wave Blamed For Two Dozen Deaths
ST. LOUIS (Reuters) - Unrelenting summer heat was blamed Tuesday
for more than two dozen deaths, buckled pavement and badly stressed
electrical grids across the Midwest.
The heat-related death toll in St. Louis rose to seven since late last
week with the discovery of the partially decomposed body of another
elderly resident, the local medical examiner said. The victim's
apartment lacked air conditioning.
Another death across the Mississippi River from St. Louis was blamed
on the heat, and two bodies found in East St. Louis, Illinois, may be
heat-related. Another person died from the heat in Peoria, Illinois,
authorities said.
Heat was blamed for eight deaths in Chicago over the past six days,
and another eight people have died from heat-related causes in
Cincinnati.
The National Weather Service issued excessive heat warnings for six
states from Arkansas to Florida, with a line of thunderstorms offering
only temporary relief from temperatures that climbed as high as 100
degrees.
"Remember that the chronically ill and elderly are most at risk during
extended periods of heat," the Weather Service said. "Check on those
living in non-air conditioned houses or apartments."
Officials in St. Louis and Chicago were better prepared than they were
four years ago, when hundreds of people perished in blast-furnace-
like heat that gripped the Midwest in 1995.
Air-conditioning repair shops did a booming business, and well-
drillers were in demand in New England, where a drought has parched
farms and lawns and created water problems.
Business more than tripled at Vogel Heating & Cooling in St. Louis,
where owner Bill Vogel had to turn away some potential customers.
"There have been people telling stories to get us to repair their air
conditioners quicker. We get 'heart problem' stories a lot, 'newborn'
stories," he said. "When customers call and they say 'we need a unit',
I'm almost disappointed, and I'm wondering, 'when do I have the time
to do that?'"
The same was true in Connecticut, where a historically dry summer
triggered desperate calls to well-drilling companies from customers
needing deeper wells. "We're getting too many calls and we're turning
them down," Lillian Sima of Sima Well Drilling in Higganum,
Connecticut, told the Hartford Courant.
Road repair crews made emergency repairs in Missouri, where the
searing heat buckled pavement. "When the highway buckles,
sometimes it's impossible to drive over," said Missouri Department of
Transportation spokesman Jim Coleman.
Patience was fading among car owners whose air conditioning gave
out in the inferno. "It's so hot that the air conditioners are breaking
and everybody wants them fixed right away," said George Mathis at
Norton Automotive Repair in St. Louis.
Some Chicago residents complained of electricity outages -- although
a spokesman for Commonwealth Edison said there had been no cut-
offs of electricity as summer temperatures eased Tuesday, if only
temporarily.
Long-range forecasters said the heat wave that has gripped the
eastern two-thirds of the United States was related to the La Nina
weather phenomenon. Warmer-than-normal surface temperatures in
the eastern Pacific Ocean have pinned cooler Canadian air North of
the border, they said.
An even longer-range outlook held that parts of the nation's
midsection might one day resemble a desert.
"We could have dune reactivation if this persists," said climatologist
Steve Forman of the University of Illinois at Chicago, presenting a
scenario where migrating sand dunes swallow up broad swathes of
the Great Plains.
"There's a long history of drought in the United States," he said. "The
(1930s-era) Dust Bowl is only a small example."
via: Newmill <hblonde1@tampabay.rr.com>
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - July 29, 1999 TV Programs
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Thu, 29 Jul 1999 08:42:41 +0000
From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>
6:00 PM Eastern
HIST - HIGH POINTS IN HISTORY - Hitler: The Commander
8:00
A&E - BIOGRAPHY - "The Bloomingdales" - The
Bloomingdales' hoop-skirt business becomes a department store
chain.(CC)(TVG)
DISC - DEADLY FORCE - Canada's elite Emergency Task Force is
composed of highly trained men and women.(CC)(TVPG)
9:00
A&E - INVESTIGATIVE REPORTS - "Transgender Revolution"
- Transsexuals and gender oppression; a neurosurgical
specialist; GenderPAC lobbyist.(CC)
DISC - INSIDE AREA 51 - Theories of alien autopsies, covert
operations and conspiracies refer to a secret site in
Nevada.(CC)(TVG)
HIST - THE CENTURY - "Coming Apart" - Franklin D.
Roosevelt's 1933 inauguration; banks fail; internment camps;
farm foreclosures; the birth of Hollywood; film industry and
the Cold War.(CC)(TVG)
TLC - MYSTERY OF THE TAJ MAHAL - The 400-year-old structure
is a testament to an emperor's love for his
wife.(CC)(TVG)
10:00
ABC - NIGHTLINE IN PRIMETIME: BRAVE NEW WORLD - Artists,
scholars and performers explore issues of the human spirit;
machines increase the pace of life; with Michael Malone,
editor of Forbes ASAP magazine; They Might Be Giants; Buster
Keaton.(CC)
CBS - 48 HOURS (Repeat) - "Second Hand Man" - An
Australian receives a hand transplant.(CC)
DISC - INTO THE UNKNOWN - "Ancient Puzzles" - Secret codes,
ancient puzzles and the Egyptian pyramids.(CC)(TVG)
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Weekend News Today items (7/28/99)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Thu, 29 Jul 1999 12:18:07 +0000
From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>
New Arab leaders
Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: Arabic News
Wed Jul 28,1999 -- The British daily the Times in its Tuesday issue
spoke about the future of a new generation of Arab leaders in Jordan,
Bahrain and Morocco. The paper noted that the signals given and
indications from those leaders are much better than had expected. The
paper said that authority has passed smoothly to the new generation in
Morocco, Jordan and Bahrain, a matter which has reinforced the hope
that the generation of the new leaders who are equipped with Western
culture, have practised the Internet, the information technology and
the computers, will be able to head forward with a less "autocratic"
attitude, while the first pioneers of Arab leaders are ailing. For its
part, the British Daily Telegraph said in this respect that whenever
there are heirs that are already nominated, they will be eventually
expected to do more than they can. The paper added that the new
generation, the generation of the international elite of the 1960s had
received their education in the US or Britain, not in the desert, and
are hoped to have a better consideration for democracy and pluralism
than that advocated by their fathers.
EU voices support for Middle East peace
Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: Arabic News
Wed Jul 28,1999 -- The European Union's Middle East peace process
special envoy Miguel Angel Moratinos has asserted the intention of the
EU to continue exerting all-out efforts for moving the Middle East
peace process forward. During his meeting on Tuesday in occupied
Jerusalem with Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy, the EU envoy
called for reviving the Middle East peace process and reiterated the
EU's backing for pushing negotiations forward. For his part, Levy
spoke about the desire of the Israeli government to find a settlement
with the Palestinian Authority on preventing what he called "friction"
between the Israeli settlements and the Palestinian self-rule area.
Levy denied any disputes between his government and the Palestinian
Authority on redeployment of troops as per provisions of the Wye River
agreement reached between the Israelis and Palestinians.
Damascus refuses to modify stance toward withdrawal from the Golan
Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: Arabic News
Wed Jul 28,1999 -- Damascus has renewed its confirmations that it will
not modify its stance toward an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan
Heights to the June 4, 1967 borders and resuming negotiations from the
point at which stopped, in light of achieving a just and comprehensive
peace according to the Madrid conference terms of reference. In its
political commentary yesterday, Damascus radio said all conclusions
and predictions that indicate that Damascus can modify its stance
toward these two matters are false predictions with bad intentions.
Concerning this matter, it said the June 4, 1967 border is included in
UN Security Council resolution 443, ratified by international
legitimacy, and to which the former Israeli prime minister agreed, so
the withdrawal became a determined matter. It added that resuming
negotiations is unquestionable because before they were stopped on
1996, they were only examining security matters after deciding the
Syrian issue.
Israel FM invited to address EU forum
Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: Ha'aretz
Wed Jul 28,1999 -- Miguel Moratinos, the EU's peace emissary,
yesterday invited Foreign Minister David Levy to address the EU
Council of Foreign Ministers, due to convene in September in Brussels.
Moratinos, who is currently visiting Israel, met yesterday with Levy
and Minister for Regional Development Shimon Peres. Levy and Moratinos
agreed to work together to draft a binding "code of behavior" for the
negotiations - an initiative begun during Levy's last term as foreign
minister under Benjamin Netanyahu. Levy said he hoped the EU will
refrain from entrenching itself in unconstructive one-sided positions,
and would instead adopt balanced policies that would contribute to
building trust and reducing tensions, in order to facilitate progress
towards a peace settlement. In his meeting with Peres, Moratinos said
the changed atmosphere since Prime Minister Ehud Barak's election will
facilitate EU participation in regional economic development projects.
Levy is also hosting the British Minister of State at the Foreign
Office, Geoffrey Hone. He requested that the UK use its good offices
to promote the development of full diplomatic relations between
Jerusalem and the Gulf States. German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer
is slated to arrive today for an update on recent diplomatic
developments. He will meet with both Levy and Barak.
Syria doesn't want to get left out of regional peace
Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: Ha'aretz
Wed Jul 28,1999 -- Negotiations with Syria are likely to proceed more
quickly than the final settlement negotiations with the PA, because
the issues dividing Damascus and Jerusalem are less complex than those
separating Israel and the Palestinians, senior defense sources told
Ha'aretz yesterday. The sources said that both sides fully comprehend
what is on the table. The four basic issues are withdrawal from the
Golan, security arrangements, normalization and the timetable for all
of the above. One senior source estimated that the two sides will be
able to reach an agreement regarding an Israeli withdrawal from
southern Lebanon and the Golan Heights within the 15-month timetable
laid out by Prime Minister Ehud Barak for determining whether the
breakthroughs required for achieving a comprehensive peace have been
achieved. The sources said that though many thorny details still need
to be worked out, "Assad wants to bequeath his son and designated
successor a legacy of peace, in order to facilitate the continued rule
of his Alawite regime." They also said that Assad now believes the
Israeli public has begun to internalize the fact that the Golan
Heights will not remain part of Israel. The sources also estimated
that Assad does not want to be the only spectator left on the
sidelines if Barak initiates a grand campaign of regional
conciliation. Meanwhile, an Israeli representative to the
international monitoring committee on South Lebanon, set up in 1996,
said yesterday that his Syrian counterpart had expressed optimism
about reopening peace talks. "He suggested that we forget the past,"
Brig.-Gen. Dan Ardity told Israel Radio. "He said, 'we will forget
what happened in Lebanon and are looking ahead toward the peace
process.' He said that this is the policy of the Syrian government.
[Could this be the first solid hint that we are indeed looking down
the barrel of Daniel 9:27? - Editor. ]
via: bible_prophecy-news@onelist.com
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - US Plans Y2K Bunker, Clinton Aide to Tell Senate
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Thu, 29 Jul 1999 12:38:01 +0000
From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>
Thu, Jul 29, 1999
U.S. Plans Y2K Bunker, Clinton Aide To Tell
Senate
By Jim Wolf
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The government is setting up an unprecedented
command center to cope with any year 2000 emergencies, President
Clinton's top trouble-shooter for the issue prepared to tell Congress
Thursday.
In a draft statement, John Koskinen, head of the President's Council
on Year 2000 Conversion, said federal authorities were urging
critical U.S. industries to join in by funneling updates on their
systems to the government.
``While monitoring and collecting information on system operations
across the globe ... has never been tried before, I am confident that
the structure we have put in place'' will work, he said.
Koskinen said the focus of his work was shifting to ``event
management'' to deal with possible disruptions caused by confused
computers.
``It has become increasingly clear that there is a growing desire and
need for timely and accurate information about system operations as
the world moves into the new millennium,'' Koskinen said in testimony
prepared for the special Senate panel on the technology problem. An
advance copy was obtained by Reuters.
Until now, the U.S. drive to cope with the problem commonly known as
Y2K has focused on spurring software fixes and contingency planning
at home and abroad.
At the heart of the new phase is the Y2K Information Coordination
Center (ICC), the Washington-based hub of a multimillion-dollar
crisis management bunker to be operational by Oct. 31 and wind up by
June 2000.
Koskinen said the command center was meant to keep tabs on critical
private-sector activities as well as local, state and federal
computer systems; on overseas developments; and on any ''cyber
incidents,'' such as attacks.
The bunker is being built in a former Secret Service facility not far
from the White House. Among other tasks, it will receive information
from the International Y2K Cooperation Center set up by the United
Nations and the World Bank.
The command center planning now under way is for the
technology-challenging New Year period only. But U.S. officials
consider the Y2K Center a test of a national ``cyber defense'' drive
set in motion by Clinton in a May 1998 directive.
The White House said Wednesday that it was weighing a long-term plan
to tighten U.S. defenses against threats to government and private
computer networks. Disclosure of the draft plan, which would give the
FBI a lead role, triggered concern that it would threaten privacy and
civil liberties.
Clinton formally signed the Y2K Center into existence last month to
coordinate, among other things, U.S. agency assessments of
Y2K-related emergencies that could harm U.S. interests at home and
abroad.
Koskinen said the center ``should serve as a framework for future
cooperation between critical infrastructure industries ... and the
federal government'' to protect crucial communication networks.
At issue over the New Year are expected disruptions ranging from
botched credit card transactions to power outages caused by computers
initially programmed to recognize dates only up to 1999.
Koskinen said the President's Council had been encouraging critical
industries to establish their own ``national information centers'' to
centralize information about glitches.
These industry units would collect status reports from individual
companies and share them with the ``appropriate federal emergency
operations center,'' which would in turn pass them on to the Y2K
Center, Koskinen said.
Besides providing the authorities with status reports, such
industry-led national information centers could serve as help desks,
putting troubled organizations in touch with others that have the
expertise to help, Koskinen said.
Thwarting any blitzes on U.S. information systems will be an
important task at year-end, Koskinen said.
``Unauthorized intrusions into information technology systems are an
ongoing risk that must be monitored closely during the rollover
period,'' he said.
http://headlines.about.com/index6.htm
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Arutz-7 News (7/29/99)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Thu, 29 Jul 1999 12:42:21 +0000
From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>
SYRIA INVITES ARAB MKs
The 13 Arab Knesset Members have been invited for an official visit to
Syria. The London-based Al Hayat newspaper reported that they will
remain there for three days in mid-August.
POGROM MEMORIAL TO BE HELD IN HEVRON
This Sabbath marks the 70th anniversary of the 1929 riots and massacre
in which 67 Jews were killed by their Arab neighbors in Hevron. A
memorial ceremony for the victims will be held this coming Sunday, at
the ancient Hevron cemetery at 5:00 in the afternoon. The survivors
of the slaughter - many of whom are expected to participate in the
memorial service - were exiled from the city immediately afterwards.
One survivor, Rabbi Dov Cohen, told Arutz-7 today that, although he is
happy about today's Jewish settlement in Hevron, "I still have a heavy
heart when I think of our exile from Hevron... When there wasn't a
Jewish community there at all, it was painful, and so [today's Jewish
community] is a little bit of a consolation... but it is still
impossible for Jews to reach certain neighborhoods where we used to
live..."
Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.a7.org>
Thursday, July 29, 1999 / Av 16, 5759
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - The Crisis Facing the Good Book
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Thu, 29 Jul 1999 08:57:57 -0500
From: owner-bpr@philologos.org
http://www.latimes.com/CNS_DAYS/990727/t000066854.html
COLUMN ONE
The Crisis Facing the Good Book
Although Bible sales are booming, fewer people are bothering to
open the cover, put off by difficult or outdated language. Some
believe a glitzy new campaign may change that, but others have
less faith.
By TERESA WATANABE, Times Religion Writer
It is the biggest bestseller in the history of the planet.
It recounts gripping stories of sin, sex, brutal violence,
awesome miracles, divine compassion and the faith and redemption
of the fallen and flawed. Its larger-than-life characters defeat
giants, part seas, get swallowed by whales, suffer horrible
deaths, spring back to life.
The book is a cornerstone of Western civilization, inspiring
the art of Michelangelo, the plays of William Shakespeare, the
novels of John Steinbeck and the films of Hollywood. Its ethical
standards have launched freedom movements worldwide. Its prose
has enlivened our language: Salt of the earth. Wolves in sheep's
clothing. Drop in the bucket. Skin of my teeth. Woe is me!
Both cultural icon and spiritual touchstone, the Bible is
revered by three major world faiths with billions of believers.
But in a paradox to tax the wisdom of Solomon, it is widely
unread.
According to one religious research firm, two-thirds of
Americans don't regularly read the Bible or know the names of
the Four Gospels. More than half of Americans surveyed can't
name even five of the Ten Commandments. And the majority say
they find the Good Book irrelevant.
The widespread Bible illiteracy comes despite the fact that
Bible sales are booming, up 50% over the past few years at some
publishing houses. According to Barna Research Group in Ventura,
91% of Americans own an average of three versions.
"We still hold the Bible in high regard, but in terms of
actually spending time reading it, studying it and applying it--
that is a thing of the past," said George Barna. The reasons
cited range from changes in American culture to the intrinsic
difficulty of the text itself. Now religious organizations are
making a major effort to jazz up the ancient Scripture's
doddering image. Bible publishers are producing a dizzying array
of products, with translations and editions pitched to every
conceivable niche market, to convince people that the book is
neither arcane nor irrelevant.
Two Christian organizations, for instance, have launched a $7-
million drive that backers call the biggest Bible-reading
campaign in history.
The campaign, by the Christian Broadcasting Network and Tyndale
House Publishers, features glitzy celebrity endorsements, a
snazzy theme song, a 50-city promotion tour and ads on such
ratings giants as "The Oprah Winfrey Show."
Rap artist Hammer is pushing the product--the campaign is using
a 1996 contemporary English version and has named it, simply,
"The Book"--as are comedian Sinbad, country singer Ricky Scaggs,
TV host Kathie Lee Gifford and Olympic figure skating gold
medalist Tara Lipinski, to name a few.
"The Bible has been demonstrated through the centuries as the
book of answers for life," said Michael Little, CBN president.
"But it has to be repackaged in the marketing language of the
day. People have to understand it's cool. It's applicable."
Long gone is the undisputed reign of the venerable King James
version, bound in black leather with "Holy Bible" stamped in
gold, pages flowing with the elegant if outdated language of
17th century England. Today, there are more than 3,000 Bible
editions appealing to different readers.
Finding Niche Markets
At the Lighthouse Christian stores in Long Beach, Arcadia and
Pasadena entire walls are stocked with hundreds of Bibles
supplemented with special notes for children, teenagers,
feminists, recovering addicts, women in crisis. Overall, the
chain's Bible sales are up 15% in the last five years, a
spokesman said.
The "TouchPoint Bible" is organized under topics such as anger
and self-esteem and offers answers to common questions ("How do
I deal with the bitterness I feel from divorce?"). Norman
Vincent Peale offers "The Positive Thinking Bible," while the
chatty, folksy "Devotional Bible for Dads" includes a forward by
New York Mets pitcher Orel Hershiser.
"The Dad Bible" includes close-ups of biblical dads and lessons
learned from them. Noah gets a thumbs-up for being "The Dutiful
Father," but Adam is relegated to the sorry status of "Wimpy
Father" for buckling to temptation and ducking a showdown with
the serpent. Another feature, "Hey Dad," supplies answers to 100
pesky questions kids ask: "Can a man really live inside a fish
for three days?" (Yes, the book claims, citing an unconfirmed
account of a man swallowed, Jonah-like, by a large fish near
Maine in the early 1900s and safely recovered three days later.)
Or "Why could men in the Old Testament have more than one wife?"
(Legal or illegal, polygamy creates misery, as Solomon, David,
Abraham and other patriarchs found.)
Some of the various translations reflect distinct theological
points of view. The world's 5.5 million Jehovah's Witnesses, for
instance, favor the New World Translation, which, for example,
renders the John 1:1 passage about Jesus this way: "In the
beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was a god."
That rendering is consistent with Witnesses' belief that Jesus
is not equal to the Almighty God, a position rejected by most
other Christian denominations, which place Jesus and God in a
holy trinity with the Holy Spirit.
Other translations reflect attempts to bring the ancient
Scripture in line with modern realities and political
sensitivities. Whether God, and people in general, should be
referred to as "he"--a debate known as "inclusive language"-- is
the hottest translation controversy today within both Judaism
and Christianity.
In the 1995 translation known as "The New Testament and Psalms:
An Inclusive Version," for instance, the classical phrase "Son
of Man" is changed to "Human One" and the Lord's Prayer invokes
"Our Father-Mother in heaven." In addition, some versions are
changing the Gospel of John's references to Jews to "religious
authorities" or "leaders" to avoid the anti-Semitic reactions
that have long troubled Jewish-Christian relations, said David
Scholer, a professor of New Testament at Fuller Theological
Seminary.
"Some people would call this a politicizing translation because
it carries, in their view, a particular agenda too far:
tampering with the historical text and changing language that
actually changes meaning, rather than clarifying meaning," said
Scholer, who counts himself among those with some qualms about
such translations.
But Scholer is a firm supporter of using inclusive language to
refer to people--"dear brothers and sisters" in Paul's letters,
for instance. And he predicts that most Bibles eventually will
adopt such language "because the overwhelming cultural reality
is that's how English is being spoken today."
Despite the marketing efforts, however, bringing Americans back
to the Bible faces daunting odds.
For starters, the book carries some pretty deadly baggage. "The
Complete Idiot's Guide to the Bible," for instance, bluntly
acknowledges the reader's possible "ghosts of Bible studies
past." These include "droning priests, pulpit-pounding pastors,
knuckle-rapping nuns, or sermons that seemed hours long."
Alternative Philosophies
In today's religiously diverse environment, more people are
exploring other wisdom traditions and find the Bible wanting. On
a recent evening, management consultant Marta Carlson and her 19-
year-old daughter, Leigh Pinegar, browsed through the "Eastern
thought" section of Borders Books & Music in Pasadena, stopping
to inspect books on Zen.
Carlson was raised as a Lutheran, owns several Bibles, values
the book as a "rich resource for understanding Western thought"
and still reads new Bible material to feed an interest in
archeology. But she no longer looks to the book for spiritual
inspiration, turned off by things like the emphasis on
humankind's sinful nature and what she regards as the
"horrendously paternalistic" God of the Old Testament.
"It builds a spirituality on the basis of badness and it's no
place to start," said Carlson, who gains her spiritual
sustenance instead from the writings of Lao Tzu, Confucius, D.T.
Suzuki. "Eastern religion deals with . . . harmony, balance,
enlightenment." Others say three decades of court rulings
against religious expression in public venues have dislodged,
perhaps permanently, the Bible's central position in American
life.
"The Bible has been damned by the media and public interest
groups as a document that is out of step with current culture,"
says Jay Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice, a
conservative legal group. "It's not politically correct because
there are moral standards set forth in the Old and New
Testaments." (Visions of the good old days of a flourishing
Bible literacy may be overly nostalgic, however. According to
the Gallup Organization, 53% of Americans polled in 1950 could
not name any of the four Gospels, compared to just 13% who were
completely stumped in 1998.)
And there is no getting around the fact that the Bible is
simply a difficult book.
Stacey Martinez, a Pasadena dance instructor, owns 12 Bibles.
She reads Scripture regularly--James is her favorite book--and
she can quote, by heart, passages like Jeremiah 29:11. ("For I
know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to
prosper you and not to harm you.") She has seen the power of the
Bible in her life, she says, yet here she is at Borders
bookstore, checking out "The Idiot's Guide."
"The Old Testament is very difficult for me to understand,"
Martinez said. "All those so-and-sos begat so-and-so." The
problem is exacerbated by a striking phenomenon: People are
discouraged by the Bible's perceived difficulty, yet millions of
Americans still prefer a version that is beyond the literacy
level of most of them, Barna said.
In focus groups, people show resistance to contemporary
language because "it didn't sound like the Bible," said John E.
Eames, executive vice president and publisher of Thomas Nelson
Bibles. And research shows that many more people prefer the King
James version, with its complex language, over such plainer-
language texts as the New International Version, Barna says.
But the key to Bible illiteracy is less the book itself than
the dismal state of Bible education, Barna adds. Too many
pastors speak over the heads of congregants, "dump information"
on people without telling them how to apply the lessons to their
lives and fail to adjust the teachings to a multimedia
generation, he said. Here and there, however, pastors are
laboring to make the ancient words come alive for today's modern
seekers. The Rev. Dr. Steven E. Berry of First Congregational
Church of Los Angeles is one of them.
Berry uses personal stories and films, such as Franco
Zeffirelli's "Jesus of Nazareth," to spark interest in the
written text. He challenges Bible students with provocative
questions: How should such ancient biblical laws as death by
stoning for adulterers be regarded in today's society? He
passionately holds forth on how critical Bible study has been,
not only for spiritual growth, but also to the development of
literacy, the system of higher education and the ideals of free
thought, self-governance and democracy.
"It is not just an old, empty book," Berry said. "The reason
America became great all started with the Bible. Most people
have no idea how exciting it is."
--- BPR
BPR Web Site - http://philologos.org/bpr
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Pope says sinners bring hell on themselves
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Thu, 29 Jul 1999 09:12:07 -0500
From: <owner-bpr@philologos.org>
July 28, 9:40 a.m. ET
Pope says sinners bring hell on themselves
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Forget the flames and the devils with
pitchforks. A week after telling the Roman Catholic faithful that
heaven was not up in the clouds, Pope John Paul II said Wednesday
that hell was not a physical place either.
Lest sinners think they can get off lightly, though, the pontiff said hell
was for real and, rather than being inflicted by God, it was something
sinners bring on themselves.
"Hell is not a punishment imposed externally by God, but the
condition resulting from attitudes and actions which people adopt in
this life," he said.
"More than a physical place, hell is the state of those who freely and
definitively separate themselves from God, the source of all life and
joy," the pontiff said in a weekly audience.
"So eternal damnation is not God's work but is actually our own
doing."
Churches around the world are filled with frescoes depicting
tormented souls denied access to heaven populating a hideous
wasteland to be tortured and suffer for all eternity.
The pope described hell instead as "the pain, frustration and
emptiness of life without God."
But demons do exist, the pope said.
"Christian faith teaches us that there are creatures who have already
given a definitive 'no' to God. These are the spirits which rebelled
against God and whom we call demons," he said.
Such creatures serve as a warning for human beings, he said: "Eternal
damnation remains a real possibility for us too."
The pontiff's end-of-millennium guidelines on hell came a week after
he told pilgrims heaven was not "a physical place in the clouds but a
living and personal relationship of union with the Holy Trinity," and
that a foretaste could be had on earth.
"If we are able to enjoy properly the good things that the Lord
showers upon us every day of our earthly lives, then we have begun
to experience the joy which will be completely ours in the next life," he
told pilgrims last week.
The Roman Catholic Church teaches that the good go straight to
heaven, serious sinners go to hell and those who have not led perfect
lives must do some time in purgatory, an unpleasant waiting room for
heaven.
via: <hblonde1@TampaBay.RR.com>
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - DoD sends competitors to military world games
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Thu, 29 Jul 1999 18:19:22 +0000
From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>
No. 354-99
(703)695-0192(media)
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 29, 1999
(703)697-5737(public/industry)
DEFENSE DEPARTMENT SENDS COMPETITORS TO MILITARY WORLD GAMES
The Department of Defense, through the Armed Forces Sports Council
(AFSC), has made arrangements to participate in the 2nd Military World
Games under the auspices of Conseil International du Sport Militaire
(CISM). The games will be held in Zagreb, Croatia, from Aug. 5 to 18,
1999, and attended by an estimated 8,000 athletes and officials from
nearly 80 countries. The United States will send more than 350
athletes and officials from all the military Services, including the
Coast Guard, to compete in 21 of the 24 events. The events are divided
into four categories: combat sports, military disciplines, individual
sports, and team sports. Orienteering, parachuting and naval
pentathlon (a combination of endurance events on land and water) are
included with traditional sporting events like boxing, basketball,
soccer, swimming, and wrestling. The first quadrennial Military World
Games were held four years ago in Rome, Italy, and drew more than
6,500 participants from more than 65 countries. The United States
placed 8th in total medals during the the 1995 competition. The United
States is one of CISM's 122 member nations. Its members represent all
continents and include Russia, China, North and South Korea, and Iran.
CISM is the second largest sporting organization in the world,
surpassed only by the International Olympic Committee. CISM also holds
annual championships in individual sports, many of which are conducted
in the United States. The organization traces its history back to
1919 when the Allied Military Sports Council was founded by U.S. Army
Gen. John J. "Black Jack" Pershing, commander of the Allied
Expeditionary Forces of World War I. In later years, it became known
as the International Military Sports Council, or more popularly, by
its French acronym, CISM. The organization is headquartered in
Brussels. For more information on the Military World Games, contact
Bill Begel at the Armed Forces Sports Council at (703) 681-7201. The
council will also maintain a web page to provide the latest
information on the event at http://dticam.dtic.mil/dodsports. U.S.
military officials are planning a send off ceremony for the American
competitors on Aug. 4, 1999, at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Md. The
keynote speaker for the ceremony will be Army LTC Willie Davenport, a
gold medallist at the 1968 Olympics in the 110 meter hurdles. The
ceremony will be hosted by Vice Adm. Daniel T. Oliver, the deputy
chief of Naval Operations, and start at 9:45 a.m. EDT in the post
theater. For more information on the send off ceremony, contact the
Pat McClung of the Aberdeen Public Affairs Office at (410) 278-1153.
There are also plans for a Welcome Home Reception on Aug. 18, 1999, at
the BWI Airport, Baltimore. The ceremony is tentatively scheduled to
begin at noon. For more information on this ceremony, contact
Adrienne Schultz, director of the United Services Organization Center
at BWI, at (410) 859-1117. -END-
via: DODNEWS-L-request@DTIC.MIL
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - July 30, 1999 TV Programs
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Fri, 30 Jul 1999 08:28:28 +0000
From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>
6:00 PM Eastern
HIST - HIGH POINTS IN HISTORY - Hitler: The Criminal
9:00
DISC - DISCOVERY NEWS - (CC)
HIST - THE CENTURY - "The Evolution of Revolution" - Iran
hostage crisis; 20th-century thinkers discuss the new
millennium.(CC)(TVG)
10:00
TLC - THE SECRETS OF FORENSIC SCIENCE - "Video Guilt;
Solar Temple" - Biomechanics is used to convict a killer;
dozens of cult members die.(CC)(TVPG)
--- BPR
BPR Web Site - http://philologos.org/bpr
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Daywatch items (7/30/99)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Fri, 30 Jul 1999 08:54:40 +0000
From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>
WASHINGTON -- President Clinton agreed Thursday to pay
$90,000 for contempt of court for denying having sex with
Monica Lewinsky in his testimony in the Paula Jones sexual
harassment case his lawyer said. Clinton's private
attorney, Robert Bennett, said that the judgement of the
court is accepted and Clinton will comply with it.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- President Clinton became the first
American president to hold a White House meeting with a
group of openly homosexual officeholders when he met with
11 elected officials July 28. The Gay and Lesbian Victory
Fund, a political action committee that works for the
election of open homosexuals, said the state and local
officeholders came to Washington to support two pieces of
legislation Clinton has endorsed.
Full Story: http://www.mcjonline.com/news/news3284.htm
CHICAGO -- Filming will begin early next year for a movie
version of Left Behind, the best-selling end times book by
Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. The $17.4 million budget
could grow even larger as the film moves toward a September
2000 release.
Full Story: http://www.mcjonline.com/news/news3286.htm
M A R A N A T H A D A Y W A T C H
Issue #45 http://www.mcjonline.com 07/30/99
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Iraqi Discovers Ancient Engraving
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Fri, 30 Jul 1999 08:58:54 +0000
From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>
04:24 PM ET 07/29/99
Iraqi Discovers Ancient Engraving
By LEON BARKHO Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) _ A slab engraved with cuneiform inscriptions, found by
an Iraqi farmer, is shedding new light on the life and deeds of
Sennacherib, one of Assyria's greatest monarchs.
Iraq Museum researchers in Baghdad showed off the find Thursday: a
tombstone-sized slab, or stele, engraved with a portrait of the Assyrian
king, Sennacherib, reviled in the Bible for sacking Judea and besieging
Jerusalem. He is shown with a conical gold crown, long earrings and
beautifully woven long beard.
His hand raised in salute, the cuneiform inscriptions quote Sennacherib
advising his subjects in the Assyrian capital, Nineveh, to leave some space
between their outer walls and the street.
``The stele depicting the king in full regalia is the third of its kind to
be found so far,'' said Nawal al-Mutwali, a language expert at the Iraq
Museum. The other two are in museums abroad.
Engraved in wedge-shaped cuneiform on the 3-foot-high stele, are the
opening lines: ``I am the beloved of the great gods. I am the great
Sennacherib, king of the four corners of the world.''
Al-Mutwali said it was the first time an ancient Iraqi monarch has been
known to give himself such attributes.
``The stele tells much more than what we already know'' about a monarch
historians are unanimous in describing as both brutal and cowardly, al-
Mutwali said.
The slab gives us ``new information about the king, gives us dimensions of
Nineveh streets and tells where similar artifacts are to be found,'' she
said.
For almost three centuries, until its demise in 612 B.C., Assyria was the
ancient world's most formidable power, occupying most of today's Middle
East. Sennacherib ruled Assyria from 705 B.C. to 681 B.C.
Located 250 miles north of Baghdad, Nineveh now falls within the sprawling
Iraqi city of Mosul.
A farmer driving his tractor in a field came upon the stele last week, said
Manhal Jaber, head of Nineveh antiquities.
Jaber immediately fenced off the field and the slab was taken to the Iraqi
Museum in Baghdad for al-Mutwali to examine.
The 26-line inscription mentions that Sennacherib erected one such stele
every half-yard along Nineveh's royal street. Archaeologists now plan to
dig in search of the remaining slabs.
Infobeat News
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Infobeat News items (7/30/99)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Fri, 30 Jul 1999 09:04:31 +0000
From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>
*** Spacecraft camera misses asteroid
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A NASA spacecraft that made the closest flyby ever
of an asteroid apparently misaimed its camera and failed to get any
close-ups of the giant orbiting rock, disappointing scientists
Thursday. The Deep Space 1 probe flew within about 10 miles of the
Asteroid Braille Wednesday night, but the pictures it sent back show
only empty space, said Robert Nelson, project scientist at NASA. "This
is analogous to mispointing a camera and getting a blank field of
view," he said. The barrel-shaped, 8-foot spacecraft, launched in
October and designed primarily to test new forms of technology for
future deep-space flights, otherwise accomplished all the objectives
of the $152 million mission, NASA said. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2560487048-023
*** Navy has backlog of burials at sea
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Navy is scrambling to eliminate a backlog of
bodies to be buried ceremonially at sea, a problem brought to light by
the rapid service the Navy provided for the burial of John F. Kennedy
Jr. and his wife and sister-in-law. The Navy has 52 sets of remains in
storage awaiting burial, some for several months, Rear Adm. Craig
Quigley said Thursday. All but three of those are in storage at
Portsmouth Naval Medical Center, Va. The rest are at Navy facilities
on the West Coast. Adm. J.P. Reason, commander of the U.S. Atlantic
Fleet, ordered immediate action to eliminate the backlog after he
learned of it, Quigley said. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2560486245-215
*** 300-year alcohol ban stands in Md.
SMITH ISLAND, Md. (AP) - A cafe owner's attempt to end a 300-year ban
on alcohol sales on this Chesapeake Bay island has ended in failure.
The Somerset County liquor board voted 2-1 Wednesday to deny a liquor
license to Steven Eades, the owner of Driftwood General Store,
according to Tony Bruce, an attorney for the board. Eades, who moved
to Smith Island two years ago, was opposed by longtime residents, many
of whom are Methodists and believe drinking alcohol is wrong. Locals
also feared selling alcohol would lead to fighting. The nearest police
officer is a 40-minute boat ride away. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2560478444-86a
*** Ariz. couple adopts 10 kids
MESA, Ariz. (AP) - A couple officially became the legal parents
Thursday of six boys and four girls, ranging in age from 4 to 17, who
are one of the largest groups of siblings ever adopted together.
"Everybody thinks we're crazy, but the pros outweigh the cons," said
their new mother, Shirley Hughes. "The kids are the best things in my
life. They're more blessings than trials." Instead of planning their
retirement, Mrs. Hughes and her husband, Van, both 52, are now coping
with $1,500-a-month grocery bills. They've converted a garage and
dining room to transform their home into a six-bedroom house with
three bathrooms and 11 TVs. Police found the 10 children in April
1995. They were living among rodents and fending for themselves after
their mother abandoned them in a trash-strewn house. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2560490346-797
*** EU offers Balkans greater standing
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) - Ahead of an international summit
on bringing peace to the Balkans, the European Union offered the
nations of the region Thursday a greater place in the West if they end
differences that have fueled nearly a decade of ethnic war. Under
heavy security, Balkan leaders met here to consider a "stability pact"
promoted by the U.S. and Europe, aiming to promote peace in the
region. The unstated, but everywhere apparent, goal is to isolate
Slobodan Milosevic, the Yugoslav president blamed for much of the
Balkans' bloodshed. President Clinton, who arrives Friday for the
summit of some 40 nations, emphasized in letters sent to seven
regional leaders Yugoslavia will not benefit from the world's efforts
to rebuild the Balkans as long as Milosevic is in power. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2560487082-e1c ***
Also: Strict security at Sarajevo summit, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2560485302-fd4
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Weekend News Today items (7/29/99)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Fri, 30 Jul 1999 09:07:47 +0000
From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>
Locust alert in Russia and Asia
Weekend News Today
By Kelly Pagatpatan
Source: Reuters
Thu Jul 29,1999 -- Locust swarms have spread from Kazakhstan into
Russia, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, creating serious problems for
farmers and posing an even a greater threat for next year's crops, the
U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said Thursday. In a special
alert, the FAO said farmers and governments in all affected countries
lacked adequate resources and technology to deal with the problem.
"The locusts, in addition to causing severe localized damage to crops
in Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation, have laid eggs over millions
of hectares," the alert said. "These eggs, unless destroyed, will
hatch in the spring of 2000, posing a greater threat to next year's
crops," it added.
Maryland declares statewide drought emergency
Weekend News Today
By Staff Writer
Source: Yahoo!
Thu Jul 29,1999 -- For the first time ever, a statewide drought
emergency has been declared in Maryland, AP reorted. ``We expect this
drought to get worse before we see serious relief,'' Maryland Gov.
Parris Glendening said Thursday at Liberty Reservoir, which is 24 feet
below its average level. Glendening asked residents to voluntarily
conserve water by taking short showers, not watering lawns and not
filling swimming pools. Mandatory conservation measures could be
imposed next week.
Iran: Severe floods claim 34 lives
Weekend News Today
By Staff Writer
Source: Yahoo!
Thu Jul 29,1999 -- The toll from floods in northern Iran rose to 34
killed and missing Monday after torrential rains which followed a
severe drought, Reuters reported. The official news agency IRNA said
the flooding hit more than 40 villages and the port of Neka on the
Caspian Sea coast. It did not say whether port facilities were
damaged. The floods damaged 5,000 homes and businesses, a cement
factory and a railway, and destroyed farmland, a local official in
Neka told the agency. The recent rains have somewhat eased concern
over Iran's worst drought in 30 years.
Niger: First major cholera outbreak claims 8 lives
Weekend News Today
By Staff Writer
Source: Yahoo!
Thu Jul 29,1999 -- Cholera has killed at least eight people in Niger
in the first major outbreak of the disease in the West African nation
of the year, Reuters quoted state radio as reporting. The outbreak in
Boboye and Filingue, 62 miles east and 100 miles northeast of the
capital, Niamey, had so far caused 163 cases of cholera, the radio
said.
Taiwan has massive power outage
Weekend News Today
By Kelly Pagatpatan
Source: AP
Thu Jul 29,1999 -- A widespread blackout in Taiwan left millions of
residents without electricity early Friday and caused chaos on roads
after traffic lights went out. The outage, which began late Thursday,
cut power to areas throughout Taiwan and Kinmen, an island near the
China's coast, media reported. The sudden blackout sparked fear among
Taiwanese that Beijing was planning an attack on the island, which
China considers a renegade province. By early morning power had been
restored to about 66 percent of the capital, the state-run Taiwan
Power Company said. The outage may have been triggered by accidents at
a power stations near Chiaming and Lungchi, in south-central Chiayi
county, 125 miles south of Taipei, Premier Vincent Siew told a news
conference. The outage knocked out electricity around the island, Siew
said. A Taipower spokesman said initial investigations ruled out the
possibility that Chinese sabotage or crashed computers had caused the
outage.
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Arutz-7 News items (7/30/99)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Fri, 30 Jul 1999 09:14:15 +0000
From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>
HEVRON OBSERVATION EXTENDED
The mandate of the international observers' force in Hevron has been
extended by Israel and the Palestinian Authority for another three
months. This, despite the strong criticism of the force leveled by the
Foreign Ministry on the performance and one-sidedness of the unit in
the past. The Hevron Jewish Community reports that the observers
ignore Arab violence against the Jews in the city, while rushing to
report every Jew arrested for stone-throwing, and that they
essentially provide a cover for Arab terrorism. Itim correspondent
Yoram Levy reports that the commander of the international force was
recently replaced, apparently because of Israeli complaints. Hevron
is marking the 70th anniversary this weekend of the 1929 massacre, in
which 67 Jews were slaughtered by their Arab neighbors.
OVERWHELMING SENATE SUPPORT FOR MOVING EMBASSY TO JERUSALEM
Eighty-four members of the United States Senate have sent a letter to
U.S. President Clinton expressing their "deep disappointment" with his
recent decision not to fulfill the Jerusalem Embassy Relocation Act.
Despite a previous letter from ten key Senators urging him not to do
so, Clinton chose to utilize a national-security waiver provision in
the Act. The latest Senatorial letter, which was publicized by the
Act's sponsors, Republican Senator Kyl and Democratic Senator
Lieberman, makes clear that an overwhelming majority of the Senate
believes that the President improperly invoked the waiver. Kyl and
Lieberman reiterated their intention to introduce legislation that
will compel the Administration to comply with the U.S. law on this
mater.
CLINTON BOYCOTTS YOM KIPPUR OPENER
U.S. President Clinton refuses to speak at the opening session of the
United Nations for the coming year, because it will be held on - Yom
Kippur! Clinton explained that he wishes to show respect for the
Jewish residents of the host city, New York. Congressmen Sam
Gejdenson and Ben Gilman led American efforts to have the date of the
U.N.'s opening session changed, but these did not bear fruit.
Clinton's wife, Hilary, has announced plans to run for Senator of New
York State.
Y2K PREPARATIONS
Prime Minister's Office Director-General Yossi Kuchik convened the Y2K
Forum this week, including representatives from the government,
police, Electric Company, Bank of Israel, National Emergency Board,
and the IDF. It was decided that instructions will be issued to all
ministers and directors outlining their ministerial and statutory
responsibilities in their offices, and that the police will set up a
national control center to provide accurate updates enabling those
responsible to make appropriate decisions. The NEB will oversee all
relevant ministries and supervise their relevant emergency
regulations, and ministry directors-general will provide detailed
reports on the readiness of local authorities, tests of equipment, and
the IDF and security bodies.
Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.a7.org>
Friday, July 30, 1999 / Av 17, 5759
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Concern over microchip implants
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Fri, 30 Jul 1999 09:30:52 +0000
From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>
Concern over microchip implants New technology getting under
some people's skin
By Jon E. Dougherty
c 1999 WorldNetDaily.com
Researchers say the technology is currently available to
implant biometric devices in human beings, which can be
monitored by government satellites and utilized by private
industry. In fact some developers are currently attempting to
bring the technology to the public and private sector.
Though not yet generally available to the public, trials of sub-
skin implants have been underway for nearly a year. For
instance, The London Times reported in October 1998, "... Film
stars and the children of millionaires are among 45 people,
including several Britons, who have been approached and fitted
with the chips (called the Sky Eye) in secret tests."
Critics, however, are worried about the increased support such
devices are receiving because of the inherent risk to individual
privacy. They contend that several governments, including the
U.S., possess the ability to monitor such devices and, as a
consequence, the people who have them -- even though they may
not be wanted for a crime, listed as a missing person, or
considered dangerous in any way.
A recent study of microchip implantation technology, written by
Elaine M. Ramish for the Franklin Pierce Law Center, examined at
length the ethical issue of privacy, which engulfs every debate
surrounding implanted biometric devices. The study provided
details about current research and development as well as
marketing plans developers are likely to use to "sell" the idea
to a generally skeptical American public and U.S. Congress.
In her study, though, Ramish said she believes the
implementation of such devices will eventually become a reality
despite their controversial identification role. But, she said,
the concept is not a new one; other researchers have advocated
the widespread use of biometric identification devices as early
as 1967.
"Although microchip implantation might be introduced as a
voluntary procedure, in time, there will be pressure to make it
mandatory," Ramish wrote in her research paper entitled, "Time
Enough? Consequences of Human Microchip Implantation."
"A national identification system via microchip implants could
be achieved in two stages," she said. "Upon introduction as a
voluntary system, the microchip implantation will appear to be
palatable. After there is a familiarity with the procedure and a
knowledge of its benefits, implantation would be mandatory."
Indeed, of the test cases in Great Britain, so far benefactors
have reported no negative consequences.
Ramish believes that "legislative protection(s) for individual
rights" should be enacted by Congress and signed into law before
any such devices could be brought to market.
In her paper, Ramish said recent polls have found that if
guaranteed certain privacy protections, the number of Americans
who would be willing to accept a medical information implant
"rose by 11 percent." Such tracking devices have already been
available to pet owners for nearly ten years, and biometric
devices such as fingerprint scanners are quietly making their
way into the public sector.
Ramish noted that a few U.S. firms were already developing, or
had developed, implantable biometric devices capable of "read
only, read-write and read-write with tracking" abilities. IBM,
Hughes Aircraft, and Dallas Semiconductor are among several
firms Ramish said currently were working to develop such
systems, but none of them returned phone calls for comment from
WorldNetDaily.
A spokesman for Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, also declined to
comment on the possibility that someday Congress may be faced
with the decision to mandate the implementation of such
technology.
Though Smith is head of the House Ethics Committee -- a
committee that normally examines only the ethical behavior of
other House members -- his spokesman declined to say how Smith
personally felt about the implementation of biometric technology
in humans.
"He (Smith) has never addressed that issue," the spokesman said.
A spokesman for Democratic presidential nominee candidate and
former U.S. Senator Bill Bradley told WorldNetDaily his boss,
too, had never considered the possibility nor thought about the
ramifications of personal privacy.
But George Getz, the communications director for the
Libertarian Party, said party director Steve Dasbach "has
considered the issue of privacy on many occasions."
"In fact," he said, "that's one issue we consistently address
as Libertarians."
Getz said to the extent that this procedure is voluntary,
"there certainly shouldn't be a law against it, because
Libertarians believe that individuals, rather than the
government, should have sole control over their own bodies."
"But the concept of government-mandated microchip implants is
reprehensible," he added.
Getz said he believes the inevitability of such a device lies
in "the government's ability to make living a normal life
without one impossible." Though the chip implantation procedure
might legally remain "voluntary," he said it's very likely that
government at all levels would eventually force everyone to have
one.
"After all, the government has never forced anyone to have a
driver license," he said. "But try getting along without one,
when everyone from your local banker to the car rental man to
the hotel operator to the grocery store requires one in order
for you to take advantage of their services."
"That amounts to a de facto mandate," he said. "If the
government can force you to surrender your fingerprints to get a
drivers license, why can't it force you to get a computer chip
implant? These are differences in degree, not in kind -- which
is why it's essential to fight government privacy invasions from
the outset."
A spokesman for the House Science and Technology Committee, who
requested anonymity, told WorldNetDaily that indeed the
committee has "looked into the question of biometrics and the
use of such technology on society." He said at present, however,
no legislation requiring or permitting the use of such devices
in humans is being considered in the House.
"We've looked at the issue across the board --whether to fight
fraud, fight crime, improve safety," he said, "but as far as
this particular use of biometrics, I don't think we've ever
really addressed it."
Not everyone is opposed to the idea, however.
Amitai Etzioni, Director of a group known as the Communitarian
Network and a professor of Sociology at George Washington
University, believes there are definite benefits to society
using biometric technology.
In an article published recently, Etzioni -- who has written
extensively on the issue of privacy -- said, "Opposition to
these new technologies is particularly troubling given that the
benefits are considerable."
"Once biometric devices are more fully developed, and as unit
costs decline ... a person may forget his password, pin number
and access code, and leave his ID card and keys at home," wrote
Etzioni.
A spokesman on science and technology issues at the
Communitarian Network, who also requested anonymity, confirmed
that the organization -- and Mr. Etzioni specifically -- "has
done extensive work on researching the benefits to society of
biometric technology."
"Communities ... stand to reap considerable benefits," said
Etzioni. "Once biometric devices are widely deployed, they will
make it much more difficult for the estimated 330,000 criminals
to remain on the lam. These fugitives not only avoid trial and
incarceration but also often commit additional crimes while they
roam the country with little concern."
The group also expresses support for all forms of biometric
technology -- from scanners to implants --as a way to increase
benefits to child care facilities, decrease losses to
businesses, and protect Americans who now fall prey to identity
theft.
Jon E. Dougherty is a senior writer and columnist for
WorldNetDaily, as well as a morning co-host of Daybreak America.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_dougherty/19990730_xnjdo_concern_ov.shtml
----------
Time Enough? Consequences of Human Microchip Implantation
Elaine M. Ramesh*
http://www.fplc.edu/risk/vol8/fall/ramesh.htm
107k
Biometrics Are Coming!
Biometrics Are Coming!
by Amitai Etzioni
http://www.intellectualcapital.com/issues/issue225/item4244.asp
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Service providers responsible for defamation?
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Fri, 30 Jul 1999 16:21:01 +0000
From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>
DESPERATELY SUING PORNO SITES
Porno sites are hard to sue. When the Web site NYGateway.com
published 22 lines of obscenities and the name "Nancy Kerrigan" (the
popular ice skater and Olympic medalist), her lawyer sued for
defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, intentional
injury to right of publicity, and other offenses; but NYGateway and
its linked sex sites quickly vanished from the Web. The lawyer,
Victor H. Polk Jr., says: "These pornographers can pop up, you slap
one down and four others pop up under different names. They are really
judgment-proof, and the legal system can't deal with them well." Polk
wants to be able to sue Internet service providers. How? By holding
a service provider to the same kind of responsibility it has under
copyright law, and making it responsible for online defamation unless
it quickly removes or disables access to material that is claimed to
be defamatory. (New York Times Cybertimes 30 Jul 99)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/07/cyber/cyberlaw/30law.html
via: NewsScan Daily, 30 July 1999 ("Above The Fold")
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - July 31, 1999 TV Programs
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Sat, 31 Jul 1999 08:30:17 +0000
From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>
6:30 PM Eastern
TBN - ZOLA LEVITT PRESENTS
8:00
DISC - THE ORIGINAL VAMPIRE - The mosquito has adapted to
life on all seven continents.(CC)(TVG)
HIST - THE INQUISITION - Recently opened archives provide
historical information surrounding brutal tactics of the
papal tribunals.(CC)(TVG)
[8:00 The Inquisition. Its very name conjures up horrific
images of torture, persecution, and corruption of power. We'll
unravel the twisted history of "The Inquisition", a special
court established by Pope Gregory IX in 1231 to root out
heresy. We'll also see why, for the first time ever, the
Vatican is conducting its own inquisition into The
Inquisition.]
9:00
TLC - INTIMATE UNIVERSE: THE HUMAN BODY - "Building a Baby"
- Medical imaging techniques allow filmmakers to explore the
mysteries of fetal development.(CC)(TVPG)
10:00
DISC - JUSTICE FILES - "Vigilantes" - Modern vigilantes
discuss their lack of confidence in the criminal justice
system.(CC)
HIST - DEFEAT AT WATERLOO: NAPOLEON VS. WELLINGTON -
Military experts and the current Duke of Wellington examine
the bloody clash of 1815.(CC)(TVG)(Ends midnight)
TLC - INTIMATE UNIVERSE: THE HUMAN BODY - "First Steps" -
Researchers investigate early childhood
development.(CC)(TVG)
--- BPR
BPR Web Site - http://philologos.org/bpr
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Hazwaste Underground Injection
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Sat, 31 Jul 1999 08:48:39 +0000
From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>
Chemical Firms Reject Hazwaste Underground Injection
By Donald Sutherland
WASHINGTON, DC, July 30, 1999 (ENS)
-----edit-----
Class I underground injection well in Florida (Photo courtesy
Florida Internet Center for Understanding Sustainability)
Diluted liquid industrial wastes are injected through wells
thousands of feet into geologic formations that serve as
environmental protection barriers for as long as the waste,
containing mostly salt water, remains hazardous. Those permitted
to use deepwell disposal for hazardous material must file
petitions by certain deadlines demonstrating that the waste will
not migrate to the environment in a hazardous form for at least
10,000 years.
EPA officials contend the Class 1 UIC program is safe. Some are
skeptical of DuPont's promise to drastically reduce reliance on
deep injection wells. "DuPont vacillates left to right on this
issue, and now that the company is approaching their year 2000
deadline they are asking to extend all their Class 1 UIC
permits," says Bruce Kobelski, UIC team leader for the EPA.
DuPont's latest commitment to drastically reduce deep injection
wells for disposal of hazardous waste has isolated those
industries still reliant on the nation's approximately 600 Class
1 (UIC) wells.
John Henshaw, leader of environment, health, and safety at
Solutia, told ENS, "Over the last four to five years we had
talked about establishing a policy against them [the UIC wells],
but the science of whether there is a risk hasn't shown there is
one, and regulatory agencies are allowing expansion of the
program." Solutia, formerly the chemical businesses of Monsanto,
spun off into a separate company in 1997.
"We are aware of Dow and DuPont's actions on Class 1 UIC wells,
but for many manufacturing companies - particularly those on the
Gulf Coast who are heavily reliant on them - to turn around
would be costly and time consuming," says Henshaw.
The EPA, the Ground Water Protection Council, and the Chemical
Manufacturers Association all say the Class 1 UIC well program
created under the 1974 Safe Drinking Water Act is not a threat
to underground sources of drinking water supplies. They say
there is no scientific evidence to support the concern that the
public could be at risk from the injection of hazardous waste
underground.
But the EPA and the Ground Water Protection Council do admit
that Class 1 UIC waste laced with carcinogenic volatile organic
compounds is entering underground sources of drinking water in
Florida, Texas, Ohio, and Oklahoma in violation of the Safe
Drinking Water Act.
Many states including Alabama, Georgia, and Wisconsin have
banned Class 1 UIC wells.
Florida's violating municipal Class 1 UIC wells represent the
nation's largest point source violation of underground sources
of drinking water according to the EPA, but no enforcement or
penalty actions have taken place.
"Besides Florida, we have had Class 1 UIC waste entering
drinking groundwater supplies in Winona, Texas, Vickery, Ohio,
and Tulsa, Oklahoma," says Mike Pique, executive director of
Ground Water Protection Council. "Look, the EPA's potential risk
chart for hazardous waste disposal methods lists deep injection
wells as the least risk of all disposal methods," he says, "and
many companies like DuPont have never had a problem according to
well and state records."
Not according to the Chemical Manufacturers Association. "We
have no concern from a regulatory point of view with these wells
but there are a number of civil action suits still pending which
we are very concerned could possibly set an astronomical
monetary effect precedent," says David Mentall, manager of
environmental issues and UIC staff executive for the CMA.
In Winona, Texas, residents are very concerned with a violating
hazardous Class 1 UIC well now closed that was operated by
American Ecology Environmental Services Corporation from 1994 to
its closure in 1996, and before that by Gibraltar Chemical
Resources.
"How can anyone say the toxins released from these Class 1 UIC
wells are not a health threat," says Phyllis Glazer, owner of a
2,200 acre Winona ranch and president of the not-for-profit
Mothers Organized to Stop Environmental Sins. "The state
attorney general has fined the hazardous well operators in our
town, but children and adults are dead and dying from the toxins
released from that injection well," she says.
The Five Classes of Injection Wells Identified by the EPA and
State Regulations:
Class I: wells utilized for industrial or municipal waste
disposal. These are wells through which waste is injected below
the lowermost underground source of drinking water. Class II: a
well utilized for enhanced recovery injection, oil/gas storage,
or oil and gas waste fluid disposal Class III: solution mining
wells such as brine wells Class IV: wells through which
hazardous waste is injected into or above an underground source
of drinking water (banned) Class V: wells through which non-
hazardous fluid is injected into or above an underground source
of drinking water
Full story: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jul99/1999L-07-30-02.html
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Experts warn of space junk 'catastrophe'
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Sat, 31 Jul 1999 08:58:43 +0000
From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>
Experts Warn Of Space Junk 'Catastrophe'
7-28-99
VIENNA (AFP) - Experts warned Wednesday that a disaster could
occur, possibly threatening craft such as the space shuttle, if
nothing is done to clean up huge amounts of space debris
floating around the globe.
At a UN conference on the use of space, the experts said the
risk of orbital collision at the moment was tolerable, but
insisted action must be taken to avoid it growing out of control.
Up to 100,000 small pieces of debris -- ranging from pinhead-
sized fragments discarded or fallen off rockets to entire
redundant satellites -- are estimated to be in orbit around the
planet, they said.
Isobe Syuzu, of the National Astonomical Observatory in Tokyo,
said experts predicted in the early 1990s that a so-called
"catastrophe phase" of collision risk, due to ever-increasing
amounts of space debris, could occur about 2010.
"That is no longer valid. But certainly that phase will come if
we don't do anything," he told reporters at the Vienna UNISPACE
III conference, adding: "We want to clean it up, but space is so
wide."
Czech expert Lubos Perek said the risk of collisions is
"bearable at the moment, but it will grow in time," adding: "It
is like the danger of colliding if you drive from Vienna to
another European capital. You face the risk. Most people accept
that risk. The probability that the next space shuttle will
return home intact is fairly high."
So far the only recorded collision in which space debris caused
serious damage occurred some years ago, and knocked a six-metre
(20-feet) boom off of a French satellite.
Various methods of dealing with space garbage are under
discussion and development.
One such could involve a giant laser sent into orbit which
could evaporate smaller debris, while another possibility would
be a giant device which could magnetically attract small pieces
of rubbish.
Other options include strengthened shielding on space craft at
risk, and moving redundant satellites and other space equipment
into higher orbits, out of the danger of collision, once they
have finished their active life.
One delegate said the key problem was regulatory: enforcing
rules globally on a space industry which is increasingly
privatized and fragmented.
Speaking under condition of anonymity, he said this approach
was facing particular opposition from the United States. "They
do not want to have multi-lateral regulations restricting their
own interests," he said.
Perek concluded by noting that the combined weight of metalwork
in orbit above our heads was estimated at 2,500 tonnes. "All
this material poses dangers to active spacecraft," he said.
"Let us hope that in the year 2000 this will change," he said.
The 11-day UNISCPACE III conference, attended by some 3,000
scientists, diplomats and business people, started last week and
is due to conclude on Friday with an overall statement on the
use of space.
The Vienna space meeting is the first of its kind since the end
of the Cold War. The UN staged two previous conferences in 1968
and 1982.
http://www.jeffrense.com/politics4/junk.htm
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Clinton Refuses UN Platform on Jewish High Holiday
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Sat, 31 Jul 1999 12:38:45 +0000
From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>
[I know I already sent something like this through yesterday, but I
found the last sentence of this piece very interesting.--Moza]
CLINTON REFUSES U.N. PLATFORM ON JEWISH HIGH HOLIDAY
United States President Bill Clinton is refusing to speak at the
opening session of the annual United Nations General Assembly because
it falls on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, U.S. officials said on
Thursday, HA'ARETZ reported.
Instead, Clinton is scheduled to speak on September 21, the second
day of the assembly. U.S. and Israeli envoys at the U.N. tried for
months to postpone the opening session but failed in their efforts
after the 15-member European Union dropped the issue. The issue was
raised by Congressmen Benjamin Gilman and Sam Gejdenson. The U.N. has
never acknowledged any Jewish holidays, though it does Christian and
Muslim holidays.
via: Consulate of Israel - New York <nycon@interport.net>
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - (Fwd) NEWS-More States Expected To Restrict Water Use
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Sat, 31 Jul 1999 09:36:21 -0500
From: <owner-bpr@philologos.org>
Friday July 30 6:24 PM ET
More States Expected To Restrict Water Use
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The list of states which have enforced
water restrictions because of drought will continue to grow unless
there is a dramatic increase in rainfall soon, the American Water
Works Association said Friday.
Ten states already have imposed some form of water restrictions, with
Maryland joining the list Thursday, and more states are facing
drought conditions, said the trade group, which represents water
utilities.
"While drinking water only represents less than 1 percent of water
supplied by U.S. utilities, the total consumer demand for water is 34
billion gallons per day," the group said.
The American Water Works Association says:
+ The average household uses 350 gallons of water a day.
+ Americans drink one billion glasses of water a day.
+ About 65 percent of residential water is used outside the home.
+ The average 1/4 acre lawn can use over 3,000 gallons of water a
week.
+ One inch of rainfall over a one acre lot produces 2,400 gallons of
water.
The trade group said homeowners can cut indoor water use by 30
percent by taking simple conservation steps such as using washing
machines and dishwashers only when full, not running faucets while
brushing teeth and reducing the use of garbage disposals.
States with water restrictions are: Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, New
Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina,
Virginia and West Virginia.
In addition, severe drought conditions exist in Maine, Ohio, Oregon
and Washington that could force them to impose restrictions.
via: <hblonde1@tampabay.rr.com>
Please be advised that this domain (Philologos.org) does not endorse 100 per cent any link contained herein. This forum is for the dissemination of pertinent information on an end-times biblical theme which includes many disturbing, unethical, immoral, etc. topics and should be viewed with a mature, discerning eye.