To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Craft to carry DNA into deep space
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 4 May 1999 08:48:32 +0000

From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>

http://www.flatoday.com:80/space/today/050399i.htm
-
May 3, 1999
Craft to carry DNA into deep space from Kourou

By Todd Halvorson
FLORIDA TODAY

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A starship destined for deep space soon will be
boarding at a South American spaceport, and anyone with $60 can hitch
a ride.

Genetically speaking, that is.

In a bizarre but potentially lucrative business venture, a spacecraft
carrying the DNA of up to 4.5 million people will be launched in 2001
on a mission aimed at making contact with an alien civilization.

About 50,000 people - including famed science-fiction author Arthur C.
Clarke and Alan Ladwig, NASA's chief of plans and policy - already
have signed up. The company staging the flight expects that number to
soar.

After all, you don't need a travel agent or a lot of money to book
passage. A mere $49.95, plus $9.95 shipping and handling, will do.

"There is an intense amount of public interest in space, and when you
add the element of being part of the mission, that's really the charm
of it," said Charles Chafer, president of Encounter 2001 LLC, the
company sponsoring the flight.

"An awful lot of people just like the notion of making a statement, of
reaching out and knowing there's at least a small chance they'll be
the ones to make first contact with another civilization."

The aliens, meanwhile, might be laying in wait.

As part of the deal, the company will beam up a hailing signal from a
Ukrainian radio telescope May 24.

Targeted at distant stars that might harbor habitable planets, the
high-power transmission will include greetings from those who have
signed up for the flight. It will be repeated in February 2000 and
February 2001.

"The cosmic calls are sort of a precursor to the mission itself,
messages of introduction," Chafer said. "In effect, we're saying,
`Ready or not, here we come.'"

The so-called "Milliennial Voyage" will set sail from French Guiana.

The cruise ship will be a small spacecraft that will carry the written
messages, drawings, photos and DNA - in the form of human hair samples
- on a journey out of the solar system.

First stop will be a transfer orbit 22,300 miles above Earth. A
European Ariane rocket will haul the tiny emissary there after launch
from Kourou Space Center.

Next will be a two-year journey to Jupiter. Caught up in the gravity
of the giant planet, the 337-pound spacecraft ultimately will be flung
on an unguided trajectory out of the solar system and into the unknown
beyond.

"It becomes kind of a cosmic message in a bottle at that point,"
Chafer said. "And I think there's a lot of charm in not knowing
exactly where it's going, other than it's leaving the solar system
with as many as 4.5million of our closest friends on board."

Peculiar space projects are nothing new to the Encounter 2001 group.
The company is an offshoot of Celestis Inc., the Houston company that
staged the world's first "space burial" in 1997.

For $4,800 each, Celestis launched the cremated remains of 1960s pop
guru Timothy Leary, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and 22 others
into low Earth orbit.

The Encounter 2001 mission might prove to be even more profitable.

Market studies done by the company indicate that somewhere between 1.5
million and 4.5 million people might take part in the flight.

The upper-end estimate would generate about $225 million.

"I can tell you the entire mission, spacecraft and launch costs, will
be well under $20 million," Chafer said. "So it could be a very
profitable business."

Encounter 2001 is billing the flight as "the first interstellar
mission for everyone who believes that intelligent life exists beyond
the solar system."

To take part, customers pay $49.95, plus shipping and handling for a
poster, a membership card, a flight reservation certificate, a lapel
pin, an "archival form" for a photograph and message, and a DNA
sampling kit.

The DNA kit is nothing more than a small plastic bag for hair samples,
which are a fertile source of DNA, the fundamental building block of
all life on Earth.

The painful part: plucking six strands of hair, root and all.

"You have to get the root, that's the little bulb on the end, because
that's where the best DNA is contained," Chafer said. "We've got a
great picture of someone doing that to Arthur C. Clarke."

The hair samples are bagged by the customer and sent back to the
company. A California lab then will use an 11-step process to dry,
preserve and package the roots in batches of 10,000.

Flying along with the hair samples will be the content of all the
archival forms, which will be scanned onto a CD hardened to withstand
radiation.

The single-page documents contain the customer's name, address,
country, planet, date of birth, gender, signature and mug shot.

There also is space for poetry, prose, musical scores and artwork or
the type of written message penned by Clarke: "Fare well, my clone!"

Presumably, any advanced civilization that intercepted the Encounter
2001 spacecraft might be technically capable of extracting and cloning
the DNA samples.

And perhaps it's the shot at interstellar immortality that explains
why customers are clamoring to join the Encounter 2001 flight crew.

"The response has been phenomenal," said company spokeswoman Susan
Schonfeld. "People are just fascinated with space and space travel,
and this truly is a way for the general public to participate."

Make sure you read the fine print, though.

The company is negotiating with zoos around the world, so the essence
of your humanity might end up commingled with the DNA of lions and
tigers and bears.

"We're hoping to have the animal kingdom represented on the flight,
too," Schonfeld said. "It will be almost like a Noah's Ark from Earth
going into deep space."

via: isml <isml@onelist.com>

--- BPR

BPR Web Site - http://philologos.org/bpr

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Weekend News Today items (5/3/99)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 4 May 1999 08:55:15 +0000

From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>

Several countries today grant embassy status to Palestine

Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: IsraelWire

Mon May 3 , 1999 -- Despite the decision by the Palestinian Central
Committee to delay the planned May 4 unilateral declaration of
Palestinian statehood, nations have decided to upgrade the diplomatic
status of the PLO Authority (PA) representatives. Leading the list is
Ireland, which has declared its intention to upgrade the PA
representative facility to an embassy. According to the information
furnished by senior PA official Nabil Shaath, Latin American nations
and Ireland reached the decision to upgrade the PA's status. Shaath,
who hold the PA's International Cooperation portfolio, reported the
date when the upgrade is to become active has not yet been announced.
According to a Jerusalem Post report, the Irish charge d'affaires in
Tel-Aviv, Paul Gunning, on Sunday night denied any such decision made
by his country. According to Shaath, quoted by the Al-Ayam daily,
Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela joined
Ireland in the decision to grant embassy status to the PA. Responding
to the report, Prime Minsiter Binyamin Netanyahu stated that actions
by the PA to raise its diplomatic status around the world are clear
violations of the Oslo process. The accuracy of the report is being
investigated by the Foreign Ministry, which called for "action" if the
information is found to be accurate.

NATO says carbon 'bomb' caused blackout in Belgrade

Weekend News Today
By Kelly Pagatpatan
Source: (UPI)

Mon May 3 , 1999 -- Pentagon officials are refusing to talk about the
"highly classified" U.S. "soft" bomb NATO used against a power station
Sunday to cause a seven-hour blackout throughout most of Yugoslavia.
However, NATO confirmed it is the same one used in the beginning of
the Persian Gulf War, in which a cruise missile was armed not with a
conventional warhead but with carbon filaments designed to cause
electric lines to short-circuit.

Russian-Iraq economic committee to meet soon

Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: Arabic News

Mon May 3 , 1999 -- Both Iraq and Russia have agreed upon activating
work between them on petroleum projects in Iraq and to convene a
meeting of the joint economic cooperation committee between the two
countries in Baghdad soon. Iraqi Minister of Petroleum Amer Rashid at
the end of his Mosco visit said the goal of the talks he held with
officials in the Russian government, parliament and companies, is to
give a new push to economic relations between the two countries,
especially in the petroleum field. Iraq has been holding contacts with
foreign companies aiming at upgrading the petroleum industry, which
greatly deteriorated due to the war with Iran in the 1980s and the
Gulf War in 1991, in addition to the sanctions imposed on it by the
UN. In 1997, both Baghdad and Moscow agreed upon upgrading oil fields
in the west of Karnaa in southern Iraq at a cost of $3.5 billion. Iraq
estimates costs for the necessary investments to upgrade its petroleum
sector at $30 billion, including $15 billion in the new oil fields to
increase production to 6 million barrels per daily in comparison to
the current 2 million daily barrels.

Turkey's new government soon to be formed

Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: TampaBay Online (AP)

Mon May 3 , 1999 -- Turkey's president chose the incumbent premier
today to form the country's next government, a development sure to
please Turkey's pro-secular military. Premier Bulent Ecevit's
Democratic Left Party won the largest number of parliament seats - 136
- with 22 percent of the vote in the April 18 election. ``We will seek
a coalition government which will work in harmony,'' Ecevit told
reporters after meeting with President Suleyman Demirel. Ecevit, 73,
needs the support of at least two other parties to gain a majority in
parliament. The constitution allow 45 days for the formation of a new
government. If the deadline isn't met, the president has the authority
to form an interim government and declare new elections.

via: bible_prophecy-news@onelist.com

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Weekend News Today environmental items (5/3/99)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 4 May 1999 08:58:43 +0000

From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>

Malaysia: Dogs and cats identified as carrier of killer virus

Weekend News Today
By Staff Writer
Source: SCMP

Mon May 3 , 1999 -- Dog and cat owners have been warned that their
pets could be carrying a new virus that has killed more than 100
people in recent months, news reports said on Monday. Dogs and cats
have been identified as the latest carriers of a rare form of viral
encephalitis that is passed from animals to humans, The Star daily
said, quoting veterinary services chief, Mohd Nordin Mohd Nor.

Bangladesh: Severe hail storm left 3 death; several homes destroyed

Weekend News Today
By Staff Writer
Source: Earth Alert

Mon May 3 , 1999 -- A severe hail storm in northern Bangladesh left
three people dead and more than 200 others injured over the weekend.
The storm also displaced more than 15,000 people from their homes. Two
of the victims died when struck by lightning. A third person died when
he was buried under a collapsed home. The storm brought winds of 75
mph (120 km/h) and torrential rainfall to the previously
drought-plagued region. The strong gales destroyed several homes,
uprooted trees and snapped electrical lines. Local residents in the
Kurigram district were without electricity for several hours. The
storm may be the early onset of the southwest monsoon season, which
many residents of the Indian subcontinent hope will end the current
severe heat wave.

India: Death toll from heat wave reaches 125, shuts schools down

Weekend News Today
By Staff Writer
Source: Earth Alert

Mon May 3 , 1999 -- Indian officials ordered schools to close in the
capital of New Delhi after the death toll from a stubborn heat wave
reached 125 over the weekend. The order was issued by the Education
Department in New Delhi. Schools in India are not air-conditioned and
children usually walk long distances from home. Most of the casualties
from the hot spell have occurred in the eastern coastal state of
Orissa, where at least 40 people have died during the last two weeks.
Other deaths have been reported in the northern state of Bihar and the
southern state of Andhra Pradesh.

Iran hit by earthquake; Several ancient buildings, homes damaged

Weekend News Today
By Staff Writer
Source: Earth Alert

Mon May 3 , 1999 -- Several ancient buildings and homes were damaged
after a magnitude-4.7 earthquake struck the city of Khonj in southern
Iran on Friday. Officials reported finding severe cracks and damage to
several buildings in the historic part of the city. Dozens of homes in
nearby communities were also damaged. The temblor was centered about
600 miles (1,000 km) southeast of the capital of Tehran.

Israel reduces water supply to the Negev

Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: IsraelWire

Mon May 3 , 1999 -- The Mekorot Water Company has reduced the amount
of water pumped to southern areas of the country, including the Negev.
The move comes as one of many steps being taken to reduce the amount
of potable water used for agricultural purposes following a winter of
40 percent less than normal rainfall. Water supplies to the
agriculture industry are being cut by 200 million cubic meters.
Farmers have already protested the move, which they insist will cause
them irreversible damage. Israel Radio reported that the drought has
also caused a significant reduction in honey production. It was
explained the lack of rain has resulted in a significantly lower
number of flowers and therefore, less honey production.

More American wheat for Jordan

Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: Arabic News

Mon May 3 , 1999 -- The US has decided to send a second donation of
wheat to Jordan, estimated at a cost of US $15 million, due to the
hard drought Jordan undergoes. In a statement at the conclusion of his
visit to Washington on Sunday, Jordanian Minister of Industry Mahmoud
Asfour said the US administration will also transfer the value of a
loan allotted to Jordan for purchasing wheat at a cost of US $40
million.

Jordan to get water from Syria

Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: Arabic News

Mon May 3 , 1999 -- The first round of official talks was held in
Damascus on Sunday between a Syrian delegation led by Minister of
Irrigation Abdul Rahman al-Madani and his Jordanian counterpart, Kamel
Mahadin. An agreement was concluded on the building up of al-Wahda dam
according to agreements signed between Syria and Jordan. The two sides
also discussed means of supplying Jordan with about eight million
cubic meters of water from the Dam of Daraa (in southern Syria).
Officials representing the two sides attended the meeting. Earlier in
the day the Jordanian minister and his companions arrived in Damascus.
In an arrival statement the Jordanian minister expressed his joy over
visiting Syria following the recent summit meeting held between King
Abdullah and President Hafez al-Assad. The Jordanian minister added
that during his meeting with his Syrian counterpart talks will deal
with measures pertinent to al-Wahda dam and the provision of Syrian
waters to Jordan.

Fire burns 11,000 acres in New Jersey

Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: Associated Press

Mon May 3 , 1999 -- Fi Light rain today helped extinguish hot spots
remaining from a weekend forest fire that charred more than 11,000
acres of southern New Jersey's Pine Barrens. Smaller fires burned
brush and forest during the weekend elsewhere in the Northeast,
including Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, Connecticut and New York. The
Pine Barrens fire started Friday and was quickly spread by 30 mph
wind. In upstate New York, fire crews were back at work today on a
300-acre forest fire in rugged terrain near Rotterdam. It briefly
burned to with 100 feet of several houses. New York had its second
driest April on record, according to the National Weather Service. The
state Department of Environmental Conservation rescinded all open fire
permits last week. Some 75 people were evacuated from their homes
Sunday at Bellport, N.Y., about 75 miles east of New York City on Long
Island, because of thick smoke from a 100-acre forest fire.

US scientists search for origins of deadly Malaysian virus

Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: Associated Press

Mon May 3 , 1999 -- A mysterious microscopic enemy has killed more
than 100 people in Malaysia in seven months, and scientists are
baffled about its origin and mode of transmission. The rare form of
viral encephalitis, which spread from pigs to humans, first surfaced
last year near the northern city of Ipoh. It has since sickened more
than 250 Malaysians, mostly pig farmers. Many of their herds also fell
ill, and some pigs died. A similar illness afflicted 11 slaughterhouse
workers in Singapore, one fatally, who butchered pigs imported from
Malaysia. Medical authorities named the new virus Nipah, after the
village where it was first isolated. As remote as the Nipah virus may
seem, controlling and understanding it are a concern of
epidemiologists around the globe because of fear it could spread
quickly. On March 7, baffled Malaysian researchers sought help from
their counterparts at Gubler's CDC office in Fort Collins. When they
tried to isolate Nipah, they found it fit in none of the three virus
families studied at Fort Collins and was actually a previously unknown
paramyxovirus. This family includes measles and mumps, but one of the
last new paramyxoviruses discovered was the especially virulent Hendra
virus. ``That was when we packed it up and sent it to Atlanta,''
Gubler says. The samples were taken to the CDC's Level 4
biocontainment lab, which houses deadly microbes that have no vaccine
or cure, such as the Ebola virus that killed 245 Zaireans in 1995. The
CDC's medical detectives quickly identified the culprit as related to
but far deadlier than the very rare Hendra virus. Hendra was first
detected in 1994 in Australia, where it killed 15 racehorses and two
trainers. But they know little else. The CDC's next step is to try to
develop a genetically engineered vaccine using mice, rats and guinea
pigs. But Peters hopes the vaccine isn't needed. Killing hundreds of
thousands of pigs seems to have helped - as of last week, the number
of new cases appeared to be declining, and the disease may ease
naturally.

EU scientific committee says hormone-treated beef unsafe

Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: Associated Press

Mon May 3 , 1999 -- EU scientific experts said Monday one of six
growth hormones contained in U.S. beef exports and banned by the EU
can cause cancer. But the experts admitted they lack evidence to prove
all the hormones pose a health risk to consumers. In a report released
Monday, the EU's Scientific Committee on Veterinary Measures said that
even small additional doses of residues of a particular hormone of
this hormone in meat, has an inherent risk of causing cancer. More
than 90 percent of American cattle producers feed hormones approved by
the Food and Drug Administration to cattle to make them grow faster
and bigger. A year ago, the World Trade Organization ruled that the EU
ban on hormone-treated beef was illegal and must be lifted by May 13.
It said the EU's ban was not backed up by the proper risk analysis.
The EU has been importing hormone-free beef only from the United
States and other countries since 1989. The EU has threatened to extend
its ban to cover all beef exports from the United States because of
fears that U.S. beef shipped as hormone-free may actually contain
hormone residue. An EU spokesman said the 20-member European
Commission will examine the report by the scientific committee and
decide by May 13, whether to ask the WTO for an extension of the ban
on the basis of the preliminary scientific evidence.

via: bible_prophecy-news@onelist.com

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Weekend News Today items (5/1/99)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 4 May 1999 09:00:31 +0000

From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>

China To Practice Bombing Taiwan

Weekend News Today
By David Attak
Source: Associated Press

Sat May 1 , 1999 -- China has built a military airport identical to
one in Taiwan so it can practice bombing the island. Unidentified
Taiwanese officials say China appears eager to test its ability to
attack Taiwan

Israel considers regional missile defense system

Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: TampaBay Online (AP)

Sat May 1 , 1999 -- Israel's defense minister says his country expects
to activate its Arrow anti-missile defense system by the end of the
year and eventually expand it into a wide-ranging system protecting
much of the region from ballistic attack. Israel hopes to use the
Arrow, which is being developed with the United States, as a defense
against missile attacks from such countries as Libya, Syria, Iraq and
Iran. Israel is especially concerned about efforts by Iran to develop
a long-range missile that could strike the Jewish state. Speaking to
The Associated Press on Friday, Defense Minister Moshe Arens said the
Arrow defense system is "not limited to political boundaries. So we
foresee that in time we will have a system that will provide
protection for Israel, for the area populated by Palestinians or
Jordan and for Turkey". Israel has close ties with the Turkish
military, but it is unclear whether Jordan or the Palestinians would
support such a system. "I don't doubt they will be happy to receive
protection against ballistic missiles," Arens said. Israel
successfully tested the Arrow in September and expects the first
battery, which would protect the densely populated Tel Aviv area, to
be in place by the end of the year, Arens said.

via: bible_prophecy-news@onelist.com

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Russia Today items (5/4/99)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 4 May 1999 09:04:03 +0000

From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>

CLINTON DANGLES BOMBING PAUSE, MEETS RUSSIAN ENVOY
WASHINGTON -- President Clinton on Monday dangled the possibility of a
pause in NATO's air war against Yugoslavia and said he would be
willing to negotiate the composition of an international peacekeeping
force in Kosovo.
http://www.russiatoday.com/rtoday/news/1999050401.html?text

UK: BELGRADE NOT LISTENING TO CHERNOMYRDIN
LONDON -- Britain on Tuesday accused Belgrade of not paying attention
to Balkans peace envoy Victor Chernomyrdin's bid to end the Kosovo
conflict and said NATO would continue attacking Serb military targets.
http://www.russiatoday.com/rtoday/news/1999050402.html?text

IISS: RUSSIA'S TIES WITH WEST LIKELY TO WORSEN
LONDON -- Russia's relations with the West are sure to worsen in the
coming year as nationalists seek to make political capital from the
country's economic crisis, a leading London-based think-tank said on
Tuesday. http://www.russiatoday.com/rtoday/news/1999050403.html?text

SERGEYEV SEES DIPLOMATIC HOPE ON KOSOVO
STAVANGER, Norway -- Russian Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev on Tuesday
expressed hope for a diplomatic end to the Kosovo conflict but said
NATO states had no moral right to take part in any peacekeeping force.
http://www.russiatoday.com/rtoday/news/1999050404.html?text

RUSSIAN AID FOR YUGOSLAVIA HITS ANOTHER HITCH
MOSCOW -- Russia's efforts to ship aid to Yugoslavia faced new
problems on Tuesday when Bulgaria refused landing rights to a cargo
plane, the Emergencies Ministry said.
http://www.russiatoday.com/rtoday/news/1999050408.html?text

MAY SNOWFALL HITS MOSCOW
MOSCOW -- Just as Muscovites thought spring had sprung, a light
snowfall hit their city on Monday and the mercury shriveled to a
chilly zero degrees Celsius (32F).
http://www.russiatoday.com/rtoday/news/1999050413.html?text

YELTSIN TO ATTEND JUNE G8 SUMMIT
MOSCOW -- President Boris Yeltsin will fly to Cologne, Germany to
attend the June 18-20 summit of the Group of Eight club of wealthy
democracies, a top Russian minister told news agencies Monday.
http://invest.russiatoday.com/rtinsight/busnews/1999050401.html?text

JAPAN STARTS TALKS ON $160M AZERI POWER STATION
BAKU -- Japan's government said it was ready to lend Azerbaijan $160
million to modernise one of the ex-Soviet state's main power stations.
http://invest.russiatoday.com/rtinsight/busnews/1999050402.html?text

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Normalization of adultery
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 4 May 1999 09:10:21 +0000

From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>

First-Person: Normalization of adultery prompts his admonition
not 'to wogaman'

By Mark Coppenger

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (BP)--Remember that Continuing Witness Training
transparency with the heading, "Two Views of Sin?" Drawn on the
model of a seesaw, it showed man's light view of sin on the left
side and God's heavy view on the right. On the left, we read that man
makes little of sin, calls it an illusion, denies it, jokes about it
and disregards its consequences. To the right, we read that God makes
much of it, that it is an abomination to him, that he takes no
pleasure in wickedness and that his judgment for sin is death.

It led me to think of the television show, "The Price Is Right."
The host calls out, "Come on down!" and the contestants run out
of the audience to take their places on stage. In turn, they're
asked to guess the price of certain products, whether a
washer-dryer set or a home entertainment center. The one who gets
closest wins the prize.

Let's put a twist on it. This time the contestants are challenged to
guess the expense, the negative value, of various sins. First comes
lying. One guesses $10, another $100 and the third $1,000. A rude
buzzer interrupts. The host announces the price at a trillion dollars
(or death) and disqualifies all their answers for utter lack of
reality. From sin to sin, the contestants are dumfounded by the cost
the host declares, representing the Lord.

Two years ago, I was particularly struck by the breezy assessment of
the sin of adultery in the death announcements for U.S. ambassador to
France Pam Harriman. As Sally Bedell Smith's biography, "Reflected
Glory," showed, Harriman was a tramp of the first order. She was, of
course, a well-connected, charming and wealthy tramp, so a choice
ambassadorship was within her reach, but who can excuse the fawning
media assessment of her life?

U.S. News & World Report headlined Harriman's obituary, "A Woman
of Achievements." In USA Today, Deirdre Donahue concluded her
review of the Smith biography with the words, "What a dame!" In
another edition of the same paper, Barbara Slavin wrote of
Harriman, "She strove to attain luxury and respectability. In the end,
she achieved both." Christopher Hart of The Los Angeles Times spoke
appreciatively of the woman "many said cornered the catnip market when
it came to rich and powerful men." In their coverage of the auction of
Harriman's estate, Newsweek noted her illicit sexual alliances with
Leland Hayward, Gianni Agnelli, Elie de Rothschild and Averill
Harriman, among others, but spoke warmly in the headline about her
"mystique." In another article, they added Edward R. Murrow, Jock
Whitney, William Paley and Stavros Niarchos to her list of lovers.
Most of them were married to other women at the time. Yet The New York
Times reported that her funeral at the Washington National Cathedral
was "the closest thing to a state funeral Washington has seen in
years." At that service, President Clinton eulogized Pam Harriman as
"a patriot and public servant."

How can she get a pass on such wretched and sinful behavior? I
think William Safire gave us some plausible reasons in a column
about loyalists to the president in recent months. Wondering how
so many people could stand by a serial adulterer, Safire guessed
that "loyalists find his failings to be their failings," "some
loyalists discern a liberating message in his example," and
"loyalty to Clinton in this contest is intensified by anger at
his pursuers." In short, so many of us are sexually corrupted
that we identify with him, appreciate his groundbreaking, and
resent his (our) critics. Danielle Crittenden of The Weekly
Standard calls it "Revenge of the Creeps."

Since Harriman's death, I've kept a file of clippings on the
normalization of adultery. Whether or not one has been
unfaithful, the cultural air he or she breathes is saturated with
approval of this practice. Just think of the leaders and icons who
practice and/or excuse it. Lady Di and Prince Charles. Housing
Secretary Henry Cisneros. German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. Geraldo
Rivera and the Canadian prime minister's wife, Margaret Trudeau. Frank
Sinatra and Charles Kuralt. Yes, I said "Charles Kuralt," that pudgy
charmer of CBS News fame, the one who took over their Sunday morning
program. Turns out his time "On the Road" included a 29-year affair
with a woman he kept in Montana. Paige Williams of Knight-Ridder
recently reported that his survivors are at it in probate court. On
and on it goes.

It's bad enough when they excuse it, but they are not content
with that. They suggest that those of us who are not involved in
adultery are somehow defective. Rep. James Moran, D.-Va.,
observed, "There aren't many people with an ounce of testosterone in
them who've had the unblemished record that our fifth-grade nuns would
have wished for us." And dear old Willie Nelson said, "You could try
to live monogamously. Good luck. There's people who say thinking about
cheating is just as bad as doing it, so if you start looking at it
from that angle, they got us all." Oh, really?

But they can't leave it at that, either. We're not only pitiful.
We're toxic. The Kansas City Star ran Donald Kaul's column
lambasting Bill Bennett's book, "The Death of Outrage." Kaul
calls Bennett "a pompous blowhard" and observes "it must be swell to
be that much better than other people." And we don't have to go into
what they've said about Ken Starr. Just watch the clip of Alec
Baldwin's demonic rant on "The Letterman Show" to see the depth of
hatred for this man.

Preachers, welcome to the new America. She calls to you, "Come on
down! We're only human. Nobody's perfect. God is love." And many
clergy become enablers and apologists.

I propose a new verb, "to wogaman," (for the president's feckless
Washington, D.C., pastor) as in, he wogamanned through the television
interview, alternatively scalding and patronizing God's prophets,
preening in aching sensitivity to all concerns and in virtually
boundless tolerance, checked only by intolerance of firm standards and
those who would uphold them.

Ernest Mosley, my colleague on the SBC Executive Committee staff, once
wrote a song titled, "Don't you do it, Samson!" To our students and
other readers who hear the world calling, "Come on down," I sing,
"Don't you do it! Don't you kuralt. Don't you wogaman." The price is
wrong.

(Coppenger is president of Midwestern Baptist Theological
Seminary, Kansas City, Mo. Reprinted from Heartland, Midwestern
Seminary's journal, Spring 1999.)

Current Baptist Press News
May 3, 1999
http://www.religiontoday.com

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Israeli Prime Minister's Report (5/3/99)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 4 May 1999 09:23:17 +0000

From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>

---------------------------------------------------
           The Prime Minister's Report
               Volume 3, Number 24
                    May 3, 1999
---------------------------------------------------

I. Netanyahu Responds to Palestinian-Iranian Ties
 (Communicated by Prime Minister's Media Advisor)

II. PLO Delegation to UN is Working
 for Recognition of the 1947 Partition Plan
 By Shlomo Shamir, Ha'aretz
 2 May 1999

III. Arafat's Latest Threat: '47 U.N. Resolution
           By Uri Dan, NY Post
 2 May 1999

IV. Official Palestinian Authority Radio Broadcasts
  Sermon Forbidding Recognition of Israel

V. Special Report: Syria Constructs Tunnels to Hide Scuds
 By Steve Rodan, Middle East Newsline [MENL]
 3 May 1999

-----------------------------------------------------------
I. Netanyahu Responds to Palestinian-Iranian Ties
 (Communicated by Prime Minister's Media Advisor)
-----------------------------------------------------------

Following reports of Yasser Arafat's intention to establish diplomatic
relations with Iran, and to raise the status of foreign missions in
the territories, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last night
(Sunday), 2.5.99: "Arafat's intention to establish close relations
with Iran demonstrates the danger to be posed if a Palestinian state
is created. It will bring Iran -- Israel's great enemy -- to our
doorstep."

The Prime Minister added: "If it is true that the Palestinian
Authority is acting to raise the level of its relations with other
countries, this would constitute a flagrant violation of the Oslo
Accord -- and Israel would be obliged to take aggressive action."

-----------------------------------------------------------
II. PLO Delegation to UN is Working
 for Recognition of the 1947 Partition Plan
 By Shlomo Shamir, Ha'aretz
 2 May 1999
-----------------------------------------------------------

The PLO delegation to the United Nations is attempting to revive the
United Nations Trusteeship Council so that it can address the status
of the territories intended for a Palestinian state under the
Partition Plan of November 1947 (Resolution 181).

Sources at the United Nations explained that the PLO initiative to
renew the Council's activities is part of a diplomatic effort by
Nasser Al-Kidwa, the PLO Observer at the UN, to further international
recognition of the legal validity of the Partition Plan.

Until 1994, the United Nations Trusteeship Council dealt with attempts
to achieve self-determination or independence for territories under
colonial rule or a League of Nations mandate. The Council was
dissolved in November 1994 after its objectives were said to have been
achieved.

According to the UN Charter, the Council's activity can be renewed
upon the request of the UN General Assembly or a special decision of
the Security Council. Nasser al-Kidwa's initiative to revive the
Council is in line with statements made recently by senior Palestinian
Authority officials on the subject of Resolution 181.

In an interview with the Al-Ayyam newspaper last week, Palestinian
Planning Minister Nabil Shaath said that, "international action will
take place at the international Trusteeship Council in the framework
of the implementation of UN General Assembly resolutions, including
Resolution 181."

In another interview, with the newspaper Al-Quds, Shaath said, "if the
resolution [Resolution 181] is implemented, all the Palestinian lands
which Israel occupied beyond the Partition borders will be transferred
to the United Nations, including eastern and western Jerusalem. The UN
will act in the same manner as in Namibia - it will hold a referendum
among the Palestinian people concerning these lands."

PLO Observer Nasser Al-Kidwa claims that "the end of the Interim
Period (on May 4) requires a legitimate point of departure. The
Partition Plan of November 1947, which served as the legal basis for
the establishment of the State of Israel, must also serve as the basis
for the establishment of the Palestinian state."

In response, Israel's Ambassador to the UN Dore Gold said, "Until now,
Israel has acted on the assumption that any arrangement with the
Palestinians over the West Bank and Gaza would be permanent. The PLO's
renewed focus on Resolution 181 proves that the Palestinian intention
is that such an arrangement would not be the last word."

-----------------------------------------------------------
III. Arafat's Latest Threat: '47 U.N. Resolution
           By Uri Dan, NY Post
 2 May 1999
-----------------------------------------------------------

WHOEVER is elected Israeli prime minister will face a new demand from
Yasser Arafat - to revive a 52-year-old U.N. plan for dividing Israel
into a larger Arab state and a shrunken Jewish one.

Nabil Shaat, one of Arafat's chief negotiators and someone well known
to the State Department, has repeatedly said this is the Palestinian
president's message during his recent travels to 50 states around the
world.

The explosive demand has stunned and disappointed Arafat's ardent
sympathizers among Jews affiliated with the Israeli left and the
opposition Labor Party.

Arafat is no long asking for just the creation of a sovereign
Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. He is demanding
control of regions that include the Negev city of Beersheba and the
western Galilee - and the installation of an international regime
under U.N. auspices in charge of Jerusalem.

While the world's attention was diverted last week to the Balkans, the
Palestinians presented their demand - and were backed by more than 40
countries - at a session of the U.N. Human Rights Commission in
Geneva. Only Israel and the United States said no.

The call is for reaffirming General Assembly Resolution 181, dated
Nov. 29, 1947, which divided the land west of the Jordan into two
states - one Jewish, one Arab - to replace the British mandate.

Since it was adopted, a lot of blood has been spilled, beginning when
the Arabs rejected the partition and went to war with Israel in 1948 -
and lost.

After that, Israel regarded Resolution 181 as dead. As David
Ben-Gurion, founder of the Jewish state, said: "They started the war
and they will pay for it."

The Arabs began another war in 1967 but Israel gained full control of
Jerusalem as well as the West Bank and Gaza.

After that, the U.N. Security Council passed two resolutions, 242 and
338, which called for Israel to turn over the captured land in return
for peace.

Those resolutions started to be respected after Israel completed its
turnover of the Sinai desert to Egypt in 1982 in return for peace and
later when Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres agreed in principle to
return the West Bank and Gaza in the Oslo agreements of 1993.

Benjamin Netanyahu, then the Israeli opposition leader, rejected Oslo,
claiming Arafat was, using "salami tactics" to cut off one piece of
Israel at a time.

Nevertheless, when Netanyahu became prime minister in 1996, he
accepted Oslo, 242 and 338 and eventually agreed to turn over 80
percent of the holy city of Hebron.

After he agreed at the Wye Plantation in Maryland last year to
withdraw from another 13 percent of the West Bank, his ruling
coalition broke apart and he had to call for new elections, 18 months
before his term was up.

Meanwhile, the United States approved when Arafat announced last week
that he would not declare the creation of a Palestinian state May 4
but wouldwait until after the Israeli elections.

But few noticed when Arafat was in Moscow on April 6 and made a more
dangerous assertion: "The right for a Palestinian state to exist is
based on Resolution 181 and not on the Oslo agreements."

Therefore, Netanyahu called an emergency meeting of foreign
ambassadors to Jerusalem last week and told them plainly that 181 is
"null and void."

It will remain that way if Netanyahu is re-elected, either on the
first round of balloting May 17 or if, as expected, a runoff is needed
June 1.

But if a rival wins, a 52-year-old skeleton might emerge from, the
attic and provide a new haunting challenge to the survival of Israel.

-----------------------------------------------------------
IV. Official Palestinian Authority Radio Broadcasts
  Sermon Forbidding Recognition of Israel
-----------------------------------------------------------

Following are excerpts from the April 30, 1999 weekly Friday prayer
sermon broadcast live on the official Palestinian Authority radio
station Voice of Palestine:

"Our position has not changed at all. The land of Muslim Palestine is
a single unit which can not be divided. There is no difference between
Haifa and Shechem (Nablus), between Lod and Ramallah, and between
Jerusalem and Nazareth. The division of the land of Palestine into
cantons and the recognition of the occupation is forbidden by
religious law, since the land of Palestine is sacred Wakf land for the
benefit of all Muslims, east and west. No one has the right to divide
it or give up any of it. The liberation of Palestine is obligatory for
all the Islamic nations and not only for Palestinian nation_.

All Israeli politicians across their entire political spectrum,
regardless of their labels, they all have a single Zionist view
embodied in the occupation of the land and the establishment of the
Zionist entity at the expense of the Muslim Palestinian land_

Allah shall free the captives and the prisoners, Allah shall grant
victory to our jihad warriors."

-----------------------------------------------------------
V. Special Report: Syria Constructs Tunnels to Hide Scuds
 By Steve Rodan, Middle East Newsline [MENL]
 3 May 1999
-----------------------------------------------------------

Syria has constructed a network of tunnels throughout the country to
conceal its arsenal of ballistic missiles, capable of being tipped
with nonconventional warheads, regional intelligence sources say.

The sources, who did not want to be identified, said Damascus has
obtained technology and help from North Korea to construct the tunnel
network. Pyongyang has constructed a huge network of tunnels to
conceal its missile and nuclear weapons program, the sources said.

So far, the sources said, Syria has completed the construction of five
tunnels to conceal Scud C missiles, with a range of 500 kilometers.
This would put Syrian missiles in striking distance of virtually any
target in Israel.

Last month, Donald Rumsfeld, a former U.S. defense secretary and
chairman of the Committee to Assess the Ballistic Threat to the United
States, told the National Defense University Foundation in Washington
that such countries as Iran, Iraq and North Korea have managed to hide
their missile development programs through the use of tunnels.

The sources said Syria is in the middle of constructing another nine
tunnels. They said the effort is proceeding smoothly.

The goal is to allow Syria to protect its arsenal of about 1,000 Scud
C missiles from Israeli attack, the sources said. They said the
tunnels are so well fortified that it can withstand any Israeli
conventional bombing.

"It seems that nothing short of a nuclear bomb could destroy these
tunnels," a source said.

The sources said Syria has achieved the capability of producing Scud C
missiles. Currently, they said, Damascus, with the help of North
Korea, is developing the Scud D missile, with a projected range of
more than 700 kilometers.

Syria also has produced nonconventional warheads for its missile
arsenal, the sources said. These include warheads filled with the
nerve agent sarin.

The intelligence sources do not believe Syria is prepared to use its
missiles in the first stage of any war with Israel. Their scenario is
that the regime of Syrian President Hafez Assad will try to limit any
attack to the Golan Heights, captured by Israel in the 1967 war.

But, they said, if Israel widens the war, Syria would use its missiles
against military targets. If the Assad regime is further threatened,
he might order an attack against Israeli cities.

As a last measure, the sources said, Assad would order a chemical or
biological weapons attack on Israeli military targets.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Israeli Gov't Congratulates Itself on Lack of Palestinian State
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 4 May 1999 12:10:51 +0000

From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>

GOV'T CONGRATULATES ITSELF ON LACK OF PALESTINIAN STATE
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon and
Defense Minister Moshe Arens held a special press conference this
morning on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the signing of the
Oslo Accords in Cairo. Netanyahu stated, "Today is May 4th, and there
has not been a declaration of a Palestinian state by Arafat. This is
a great achievement for the State of Israel and the government of
Israel - one that did not come of its own. Arafat has warned many
many times over the past few months that he plans to declare a state.
Arafat is a smart man. He realized that our reaction would be sharp,
and that our government would not allow him to unilaterally decide the
future of Israel and its borders. However, he left himself the option
of declaring the state at a later date.
 I would like to announce clearly: The government that I head will
 not
allow, under any circumstances, the implementation of a unilateral
declaration of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. We
will enter into negotiations on the final status arrangement, and we
will reach a final decision only by mutual consent."

Foreign Minister Sharon said, "The announcement by Arafat on the
postponement of the unilateral decision is the result of many months
of hard and intensive work by this government... I myself have met
with over 40 heads of government and foreign ministers since
January..." Sharon also said that the government made it clear to
Arafat that a unilateral declaration would lead to the Israeli
annexation of broad areas of Judea and Samaria. MK Yosi Sarid
(Meretz) mocked the government, saying that for all intents and
purposes a Palestinian already exists.

Palestinians rioted early today in Ramallah and other locations in
Judea and Samaria, in favor of a Palestinian state and against the
lack of a declaration of one. They threw stones and Molotov cocktails
at IDF soldiers, who returned fire with rubber bullets. Three of the
rioters were injured.

Arutz Sheva News Service
     <http://www.a7.org>
Tuesday, May 4, 1999 / Iyar 18, 5759 - Lag (33) Ba'Omer

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Meteors Down Under
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 4 May 1999 12:28:40 +0000

From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>

                                      Meteors Down Under

                               Debris from Halley's comet will put on
                               a sky show for southern
                                               observers in early May

          May 3, 1999: It's a fact of Nature that Koala bears,
          kangaroos and other denizens of the southern hemisphere
          rarely have a favorable view of major meteor showers. Most
          cometary debris streams in the inner solar system are
          arranged in such a way that that they tend to produce
          shooting stars mainly over the northern hemisphere. The
          well-known Leonids display is relatively easy to see from
          southern latitudes, but that shower is only intense at 33
          year intervals when the parent comet Tempel-Tuttle passes
          close to Earth.

          Throughout the year meteor enthusiasts "down under" are able
          to view some of the more intense northern displays over the
          horizon, and there are a number of minor showers averaging 5
          -15 shooting stars per hour. Without a doubt, however, the
          highlight of the meteor observing season is the eta
          Aquarids. Each year around May 5 the eta Aquarids reach
          their peak with 30 to 50 meteors per hour visible from below
          the equator. It's the best annual shower in that part of the
          world.

          If you don't live in the southern hemisphere you might be
          inclined to disregard the eta Aquarids. After all there are
          many annual showers that are more intense and easier to
          view. Sky watchers at northern mid-latitudes will typically
          see only about 5 to 10 per hour, and above latitude 45
          degrees they are practically impossible to see at all.
          Nevertheless, there is something special about these meteors
          that makes them worth watching no matter where you live.
          Every eta Aquarid meteoroid is a tiny piece of Halley's
          comet!

                                 How to view the eta Aquarids

          Halley's comet is among the most famous of all heavenly
          bodies. It orbits the sun once every 76 years and has been
          seen on each visit to the inner solar system since 240 BC.
          Many of the apparitions have been spectacular and some even
          play a role in human history. In 1066 the comet was so
          bright that it terrified millions of Europeans and was
          widely credited with the Norman victory at the Battle of
          Hastings. Halley's Comet of 1456 followed the 1453 invasion
          of Constantinople by the Turks, and was thought by some to
          be a gesture of heavenly support for their victory. There
          are accounts that Pope Calixtus III excommunicated the comet
          and ordered prayers to prevent the Turks from taking over
          all of Europe.

          In 1910 Earth passed through Halley's tail, prompting
          widespread fears that cyanogen gas from the comet would
          poison the atmosphere. Fortunately comet tails are very
          tenuous and Earth suffered no ill effects from the
          encounter. Although the wispy nature of comet tails was
          already well known to astronomers in 1910, sales of gas
          masks that year were brisk.
         
                             Mark Twain was born in 1835 when Halley's
                             comet was in the sky. Later in life he
                             began to say that "I came in with
                             Halley's Comet in 1835. It is coming
                             again next year (1910), and I expect to
                             go out with it. It will be the greatest
                             disappointment of my life if I don't...."
                             During the spectacular return of 1910 he
                             died [refs. 1, 2].

          Each time Halley's comet swings by the sun, solar heating
          evaporates about 6 meters of ice and rock from the nucleus.
          The debris particles, usually no bigger than grains of sand,
          gradually spread along the comet's orbit until it is almost
          uniformly filled with tiny meteoroids. Twice a year when
          Earth passes by the debris cloud there is a meteor shower.
          The first, on May 5th, is called the eta Aquarids and the
          second, on October 21st is called the Orionids. Sometimes
          both showers are referred to as "Halleyids" after the parent
          comet.

          So, although Halley's comet won't return to Earth until
          2061, skywatchers can glimpse bits of the comet in just a
          few days when the eta Aquarid meteor shower peaks.

                             Left: Comet Halley moves around the sun
                             in an elliptical retrograde orbit,
                             opposite to the direction of Earth's
                             motion. As a result Halleyid meteoroids
          and the earth approach one another at high speed, much like
          two cars in a head-on collision. Although the meteoroids are
          very small and light they give rise to bright shooting stars
          because they speed through the atmosphere at nearly 66 km/s
          (148,000 mph). The size of Earth's orbit is exaggerated by a
          factor of two in this diagram.

          In 1985 scientists enjoyed the closest-ever view of comet
          Halley and its meteoroids when five spacecraft from Russia,
          Japan, and the European Space Agency were sent to rendezvous
          with the comet. The ESA's Giotto probe captured close-up
          color pictures of Halley's nucleus showing jets of
          solar-heated debris spewing into space. In fact, just 14
          seconds prior to its closest approach, Giotto was hit by a
          small piece of the comet which altered the spacecraft's spin
          and permanently damaged the camera. Most of the instruments
          were unharmed, however, and Giotto was able to make many
          scientific measurements as it passed within 600 km of the
          nucleus.

          Some of the most important measurements came from Giotto's
          'mass spectrometers', which allowed scientists to analyze
          the composition of the ejected gas and dust. It's widely
          believed that comets were formed in the primordial Solar
          Nebula at about the same time as the sun. If that's true,
          then comets and the Sun would be made of essentially the
          same thing -- namely light elements such as hydrogen, carbon
          and oxygen. Objects like Earth and the asteroids tend to be
          rich in heavier elements like silicon, magnesium, and iron.
          True to expectations, Giotto found that light elements on
          comet Halley had the same relative abundances as the Sun.
          That's one reason why the tiny meteoroids from Halley are so
          light. A typical debris particle is about the same size as a
          grain of sand, but it is much less dense, weighing only 0.01
          gram.

                           How to View the eta Aquarids

          The best times to view the eta Aquarids in 1999 are during
          the early morning hours of May 5 and May 6. The
          constellation Aquarius rises above the horizon at about 2:30
          am. The the best time to look for meteors will be between
          about 4 a.m. and dawn. That's when the local sky is pointing
          directly into the meteoroid debris stream (see the diagram
          below), and also when the elevation of the radiant exceeds
          15 degrees as seen from mid-latitudes. The nominal maximum
          of the eta Aquarids occurs at 11 UT on May 6, but the
          shower's peak is broad and there should be enhanced meteor
          activity between 10 UT on May 5 and 11 UT on May 6. The
          bright gibbous moon will make all but the brightest meteors
          difficult to see on both days.

Full Story with pictures and links:
http://science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/ast03may99_1.htm

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - 'Genetically modified' leaders new fad in Arab countries
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 4 May 1999 18:15:37 +0000

From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>

'Genetically modified' leaders the new fad in Arab countries

A new scientific fad, not disimilar to to the current craze about
genetically-modified food, has taken hold of Arab dictators. Ailing
and ageing=F9and encouraged, if not inspired by the ruthless transfer of
power to the late Jordanian monarch's eldest son, king Abdullah II,
and the impressive display of western support for him=F9they are all
preparing to stage similar performances in their own countries.

Syria's president Hafiz al-Assad is leading the team of political
scientists anxious to clone themselves, before it is too late, by
appointing their eldest sons as their successors, while the Libyan
leader, Colonel Mu'ammar Qaddafi, is a willing and able assistant.
Saddam Hussain of Iraq, though isolated and under attack by the west
and its proxies, shows no sign of being outdone, displaying great
professionalism in the preparation of a successor as unspeakable as
himself.

Even Yassir Arafat, who has no son of his own, is apparently yearning
for a successor. He announced, soon after king Hussain appointed his
eldest son as Crown Prince, having humiliated his brother Hasan first,
that he 'hoped to be succeeded, and soon'. His three-year-old
daughter, Zahra, is too young to be groomed for the job, and he is too
ill to hang on long enough. But his wife Suha, barely half his age, is
young enough to take over from him and keep the line of dynastical
succession open. Suha, who converted from Greek Orthodoxy to Islam
before the wedding, is certainly showing strong signs of political
ambition. She has begun a campaign of vilification against members of
the Palestinian authority (particularly those hoping to become
chairman after Arafat), dismissing them as 'a corrupt bunch of
yes-men'. She has also openly attacked the 'peace-process', asserting
that it robs Palestinians of their 'dignity'. She told the
London-based Sunday Telegraph on February 7 that Arafat 'encouraged me
to find a public role for myself'. 'I felt I could contribute most by
representing those in the camps who have no voice of their own,' she
said. Hear! Hear! But enough of amateurish Arafat and Suha, and back
to more professional operators such as Asad and Saddam, who are
engaged in supervising more authentic genetic-engineering experiments
in well-hidden and closely-guarded laboratories. The first clone is
expected to turn up in Damascus, the capital of Syria, in the shape of
Bashar Assad, 35- year-old son of Hafiz, who is diabetic, 70 years old
and anxious to hone his son's political skills. Bashar, who was
trained in Britain as an ophthalmologist, has already emerged as his
father's deputy and represents him at state functions abroad. The
cautious Assad senior, who has ruled with an iron fist for 30 years,
is not likely to load the burden of power onto his son too abruptly.
He has arranged for his term of office to be renewed at a referendum
next February, no doubt with about 99% of the vote, and plans to take
his time to install Bashar firmly in the corridors of power before he
bows out. Bashar returned to Syria from Britain after his brother
Bassel died in a car-accident in 1994. Bassel had held high office in
the armed forces and appeared to enjoy their loyalty. Assad has now
put Bashar in the army, the bedrock of power in the Middle East. Like
king Hussain, he has also removed his brother from any position he
might use as a stepping-stone to the succession.

In Libya, likewise, Qaddafi is also grooming his son, Saiful Islam, to
succeed him. The 'Sword of Islam' was despatched to Amman to represent
Qaddafi at king Hussain's funeral, and to congratulate the new king.
Abdullah himself went to Bahrain shortlyafterwards to offer
condolences to Sheikh Hammad of Bahrain after the death of Sheikh Isa
ibn Salman Al-Khalifa. In Iraq, meanwhile, Saddam has given his son
Uday full authority to behave as if the country belongs to him. Uday
has become a despot without waiting to inherit.

The ailing dictators all share one belief: that the biggest obstacle
to their sons' succession is 'political' Islam. That partly explains
why they are sworn enemies of the Islamic movement and why they are
determined to eradicate Islamic activism in their lands. And the sons
being groomed for power all share their fathers' love for fast cars,
fast women, night-clubs and casinos.

Muslimedia: April 16-30, 1999

via: isml@onelist.com

--- BPR

BPR Web Site - http://philologos.org/bpr

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - May 5, 1999 TV Programs
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 5 May 1999 08:25:25 +0000

From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>

8:00 PM Eastern

 DISC - ANIMAL MUMMIES: CREATURES OF THE GODS - Egyptologists
   study the ancient kings and the animals they
   worshiped.(CC)(TVG)

9:00

 DISC - MUMMIES - Cultures use mummification as a path to
   immortality; Brendan Fraser narrates.(CC)(TVG)

 HIST - SCIENCE AT WAR - "Enemy of Mankind" - Germ
   warfare.(CC)(TVG)

 TLC - TRINITY AND BEYOND ** (Documentary, 1995) --
   Filmmaker Peter Kuran profiles the history of the U.S.
   nuclear weapons program from 1945-63.
   (120 minutes) (TVG)

9:30

 TBN - JACK VAN IMPE PRESENTS - 666 and computers

10:00

 DISC - EGYPT UNCOVERED - "Mummies: Into the Afterlife" -
   Scientists discover older strains of modern diseases in the
   organs of the dead.(CC)(TVG)

 HIST - SPACE SHUTTLE - The NASA aircraft is the world's
   first reusable space ship.(CC)(TVG)

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - NASA working to improve crime-scene technologies
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 5 May 1999 08:38:39 +0000

From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>

NASA WORKING TO IMPROVE CRIME-SCENE TECHNOLOGIES

     Watch out, America's most wanted. NASA scientists are
developing promising new software technologies and instruments to help
law enforcement agencies catch criminals by improving the analysis of
crime-scene evidence.

     NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL, has
demonstrated software that enhances and improves dark, blurry
videotape -- technology used by law enforcement to study video of the
bombing at the1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. And NASA's Goddard Space
Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD, is working with the National Institute
of Justice to develop remote crime-scene analysis.

      Goddard and the National Institute of Justice will study how
remote-sensing technology -- used to study everything from crops on
Earth to galaxies millions of light-years away -- might allow
investigators in a central location to study a distant crime scene.
Criminologists may be able to identify everything from fingerprints to
gunpowder residue without disturbing a crime scene, preserving the
chain of evidence while saving time and money.

     In the Goddard study, a group of forensic scientists and law-
enforcement specialists will use instruments from NASA's Near Earth
Asteroid Rendezvous spacecraft to scan a crime scene. The data can
then be transferred to a remote location, allowing crime experts to
study a crime scene from anywhere in the world.

     "This centralized type of crime scene examination could also be
of great importance to smaller cities and regions that do not have the
monetary resources for high-tech equipment and personnel," said
Institute Director Jeremy Travis. "The central monitoring area would
provide expertise to an entire region of the country, not just larger
cities."

     The NASA partnership with the National Institute of Justice
"can have a major impact on the criminal justice system," said Dr.
Jacob Trombka, a scientist in Goddard's Laboratory for
Extraterrestrial Physics.

      While scientists at Goddard develop remote crime-scene
technology, their colleagues at Marshall Space Flight Center have
taken software -- used by NASA to improve video for shuttle launches
and weather images -- and applied it to dark, nighttime video used by
police. When applied to video of the bombing at the 1996 Olympic
Games in Atlanta, the software clarified handheld camcorder video,
revealing important details that had been obscured.

     The NASA video software "has the potential to stabilize
images so that criminals and other important clues can be
identified, even in blurred images," said Dr. Arsev H. Eraslan,
chief scientist of both the NASA National Technology Transfer
Center and the Office of Law Enforcement Technology and
Commercialization, Wheeling, WV.

      NASA's video stabilization system has many advantages over
other systems being studied because it does more than just remove
static from videos.

      "It's like a video eraser," said Marshall's Dr. David
Hathaway, one of the technology's inventors. "It removes defects due
to image jitter, image rotation and image zoom in video sequences."

      Once NASA's new software improves the video quality,
existing software can sharpen and "de-blur" images, further
enhancing video clarity.

     "This technology has the potential to become a part of many
products, from those used by everyday Americans to those used by
sophisticated security and video production companies," said
Hathaway.

      Marshall's Technology Transfer Office is working with the
inventors to license the technology so industry can turn it into a
commercial product.

via: SEDSNEWS@listserv.tamu.edu

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Inside China Today (5/4/99)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 5 May 1999 09:16:35 +0000

From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>

AUSTRALIA IN REFUGEE RETHINK AFTER DEPORTED WOMAN IS FORCIBLY ABORTED
SYDNEY -- Australia faced pressure to rethink its refugee policies
Wednesday after a woman deported to China was forcibly aborted 10 days
before her baby was due.
http://www.insidechina.com/china/news/1999050501.html?text

ARCHAEOLOGISTS FIND WORLD'S OLDEST SHIP
BEIJING -- Chinese archaeologists believe they have found the remains
of a 4,000-year-old boat which if proven would be the world's oldest
ship, state press reported Tuesday.
http://www.insidechina.com/china/news/1999050502.html?text

ROLL UP! COME SEE OUR NUCLEAR WEAPONS!
BEIJING -- A city in southwest China is welcoming curious visitors
into a high-tech nuclear weapons research institute as the country's
tourism drive switches up a gear, state-run media said Wednesday.
http://www.insidechina.com/china/news/1999050503.html?text

MANDELA ARRIVES IN BEIJING
BEIJING -- South African President Nelson Mandela arrived in Beijing
Wednesday to start a landmark visit aimed at improving economic ties
and meeting with Chinese leaders, the state-run Xinhua news agency
reported. http://www.insidechina.com/china/news/1999050504.html?text

TAIWAN MILITARY TO BE 'MILLENNIUM BUG' IMMUNE BY JUNE
TAIPEI -- The 2000 millennium bug poses no threat to Taiwan's defense
as all military computer and data systems are on track to be
Y2K-compliant by June, the defense ministry said on Tuesday.
http://www.insidechina.com/china/news/1999050513.html?text

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Rumors of flowing water from Foundation Stone
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 5 May 1999 19:31:29 +0000

From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>

RUMORS CONTINUE TO FLOW
Rumors of flowing water from the Foundation Stone on the Temple Mount
have cost at least one man a few hours of freedom. Rabbi Yosef
Elbaum, who regularly takes visitors on tours to
Halakhically-permitted areas of the Temple Mount, was arrested
yesterday when he attempted to verify the rumors of the flowing water.
He took his usual route, and when a policeman ordered him to veer off
the path and walk in a Halakhically-forbidden area, Rabbi Elbaum
refused. The policeman arrested him, and he was released only a few
hours later. Rabbi Elbaum was unable to verify the truth of the
rumors.

Speaking with Arutz-7 today, Rabbi Elbaum said, "The Book of Ezekiel
mentions that water will begin flowing from the Foundation Rock, after
chapters on the construction of the Beit HaMikdash (Holy Temple). We
have heard rumors of foreign press reports over the past week that
waters have started to flow from the Rock, and that it is impossible
to locate the source or to stop the flow." Rabbi Elbaum said that,
from the answers to his inquiries on the topic during his walk
yesterday, and from the fact that he was arrested on "such a baseless
charge," he suspects that the policemen and the Waqf personnel were
attempting to hide something from him.

Arutz Sheva News Service
     <http://www.a7.org>
Wednesday, May 5, 1999, Iyar 19, 5759

Ezekiel 47:1-12
Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and,
behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house
eastward: for the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and
the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, at
the south side of the altar. Then brought he me out of the way of the
gate northward, and led me about the way without unto the utter gate
by the way that looketh eastward; and, behold, there ran out waters
on the right side. And when the man that had the line in his hand
went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me
through the waters; the waters were to the ankles. Again he measured
a thousand, and brought me through the waters; the waters were to the
knees. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through; the
waters were to the loins. Afterward he measured a thousand; and it
was a river that I could not pass over: for the waters were risen,
waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over. And he said
unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen this? Then he brought me, and
caused me to return to the brink of the river. Now when I had
returned, behold, at the bank of the river were very many trees on
the one side and on the other. Then said he unto me, These waters
issue out toward the east country, and go down into the desert, and
go into the sea: which being brought forth into the sea, the waters
shall be healed. And it shall come to pass, that every thing that
liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall
live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because
these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every
thing shall live whither the river cometh. And it shall come to pass,
that the fishers shall stand upon it from En-gedi even unto
En-eglaim; they shall be a place to spread forth nets; their fish
shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea,
exceeding many. But the miry places thereof and the marishes thereof
shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt. And by the river
upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all
trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit
thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his
months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and
the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for
medicine.

Psalm 46:4
There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of
God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.

Zechariah 13-14:16
In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David
and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. And
it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I
will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall
no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the
unclean spirit to pass out of the land. And it shall come to pass,
that when any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother that
begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live; for thou speakest
lies in the name of the LORD: and his father and his mother that
begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth. And it shall
come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed every
one of his vision, when he hath prophesied; neither shall they wear a
rough garment to deceive: But he shall say, I am no prophet, I am an
husbandman; for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth. And one
shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he
shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my
friends. Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man
that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and
the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the
little ones. And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith
the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third
shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the
fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as
gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I
will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.

Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in
the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to
battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the
women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity,
and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as
when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that
day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east,
and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the
east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and
half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it
toward the south. And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains;
for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal; yea, ye shall
flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of
Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the
saints with thee. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the
light shall not be clear, nor dark; But it shall be one day which
shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to
pass, that at evening time it shall be light. And it shall be in that
day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them
toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in
summer and in winter shall it be. And the LORD shall be king over all
the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one. All
the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of
Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place,
from Benjamin's gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the
corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king's
winepresses. And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more
utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited. And this
shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that
have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while
they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in
their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. And
it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD
shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand
of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his
neighbour. And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of
all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and
silver, and apparel, in great abundance. And so shall be the plague
of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all
the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague. And it shall
come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which
came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship
the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.

Revelation 22:1-2,17
And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal,
proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of
the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree
of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit
every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the
nations...And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that
heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever
will, let him take the water of life freely.

Babylonian Talmud, Yoma, 77b, 78a
R. Phinehas in the name of R. Huna of Sepphoris said: The spring that
issues from the Holy of Holies in its beginning resembles the antennae
of locusts; as it reaches the entrance to the Sanctuary it becomes as
the thread of the warp; as it reaches the Ulam,(24) it becomes as the
thread of the woof; as it reaches the entrance to the [Temple] court,
it becomes as large as the mouth of a small flask, that is meant by
what we learned: R. Eliezer b. Jacob said: [Hence] go forth the waters
which will bubble forth from under the threshold of the Sanctuary.(1)
From there onwards it becomes bigger, rising higher and higher, until
it reaches the entrance to the House of David.(2) As soon as it
reaches the entrance to the house of David, it becomes even as a
swiftly running brook, in which men and women afflicted with
gonorrhoea, menstruating women, and women after childbirth bathe, as
it is said: In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house
of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for purification and
for sprinkling.(3)

(24) The Main Hall leading into the interior of the Sanctuary.
(1) Mid. III, 6. A play on pakh (pitcher) as if derived from pakhakh
(to bubble forth).
(2) I.e., Zion, outside Jerusalem, the fortress in the wall of the
Holy City.
(3) All of which need a ritual immersion to regain their purity.
Zech. XIII, 1.

Commentary on the OT, Keil & Delitzsch
Zechariah 13:1
"In that day will a fountain be opened to the house of David, and to
the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and uncleanness." As the Lord
Himself pours out the spirit of supplication upin Israel, so does He
also provide the means of purification from sin. A fountain is
opened, when its stream of water bursts forth from the bosom of the
earth. The water, which flows from the fountain opened by the Lord,
is a water of sprinkling, with which sin and uncleanness are removed.
The figure is taken partly from the water used for the purification
of the Levites at their consecration, which is called sin-water, or
water of absolution, in Numbers 8:7, and partly from the
sprinkling-water prepared from the sacrificial ashes of the red
heifer for purification from the defilement of death, which is called
water of uncleanness, i.e. water which removed uncleanness, in
Numbers 19:9. Just as bodily uncleanness is a figure used to denote
spiritual uncleanness, the defilement of sin, so is earthly
sprinkling-water a symbol of the spiritual water by which sin is
removed. By this water we have to understand not only grace in
general, but the spiritual sprinkling-water, which is prepared
through the sacrificial death of Christ, through the blood that He
shed for sin, and which is sprinkled upon us for the cleansing away
of sin in the gracious water of baptism. The blood of Jesus Christ
cleanseth us from all sin.

The house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem represent the
whole nation here... This cleasning will be followed by a new life in
fellowship with God, since the Lord will remove everything that could
hinder sanctification.