BPR Mailing List Digest: 11/12/99

Philologos
BPR Mailing List Digest
November 12, 1999

Digest Home | 1999 | November, 1999

To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Water: The Key to Middle East Peace?
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 08:26:41 -0500

From: owner-bpr@philologos.org

Water: The Key to Middle East Peace?

10 November 1999

Summary

While Syria continues to demand an Israeli withdrawal from the
"strategic Golan Heights," Israeli Gen. Uri Saguy made it clear
Nov. 8 that water, not land, is the critical issue between
Israel and Syria. Israel is willing to consider the development
of water deals with Turkey and Syria, but, so far, Syria has not
participated in any negotiations on the matter. The peace
process may hinge on the creation of a three-way water deal
among Israel, Syria and Turkey.

Full analysis:
http://www.stratfor.com/MEAF/specialreports/special19.htm

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Persecuted Christians Prayer Day
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 09:35:18 -0500

From: "Moza" <moza7@netzero.net>

More than 300,000 churches around the world will pray for
persecuted Christians Nov. 14. The International Day of Prayer
for the Persecuted Church (see link #4 below) highlights the
plight of oppressed Christians around the world and encourages
prayer for them, the ministry said. An international church
service commemorating the event will be held in Stuttgart,
Germany, sponsored by the German Evangelical Alliance (see link
#5 below). Prayer guides and other materials in several languages
can be obtained at World Evangelical Fellowship's IDOP website
(see link #6 below).

-----------
RELATED LINKS:
4: http://www.persecutedchurch.org
5: http://www.ead.de
6: http://www.WorldEvangelical.org/idop

via: http://www.religiontoday.com

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Survey of Y2K readiness among US states
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 09:35:18 -0500

From: "Moza" <moza7@netzero.net>

Wednesday November 10, 8:09 pm Eastern Time
Survey of Y2K readiness among U.S. states

http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/991110/bjf.html

MIAMI, Nov. 10 (Reuters) - The following list highlights results of an
online survey of states' Y2K remediation progress, which is being
conducted by the National Association of State Information Resource
Executives Inc. NASIRE represents state chief information officers and information
resource executives and managers from the 50 states, six U.S. territories
and the District of Columbia.

Survey information is provided by state information technology
officers. The full survey appears on:

http://www.nasire.org/hotissues/y2k/survey/index.cfm

------------

THE WORST:

State % mission critical systems last updated that are compliant:

    1. Alabama* 52% 11/8/99
    2. Oklahoma 75% 3/11/99
    3. Puerto Rico 76% 10/6/99
    4. New Mexico 81% 11/2/99
    5. Wyoming 85% 10/4/99
    6. Georgia 88% 10/28/99
    7. Idaho 90% 6/23/99
        Mississippi 90% 7/22/99
        New Hampshire 90% 10/29/99
        Rhode Island 90% 7/29/99
        Utah 90% 9/20/99

------------

THE BEST:

State % mission critical systems last updated that are compliant:

    1. Hawaii 100% 10/07/99
       Indiana 100% 10/29/99
       Iowa 100% 8/27/99
       Michigan 100% 10/12/99
       Nebraska 100% 10/4/99
       New York 100% 11/9/99
       North Dakota 100% 5/6/99
    2. Florida 99% 11/5/99
       Kentucky 99% 10/18/99
       New Jersey 99% 11/9/99
       South Dakota 99% 11/1/99
       Texas 99% 10/21/99
       Virginia 99% 10/21/99
       Washington 99% 11/9/99

------------

OVERALL:

State % mission critical systems last updated
that are compliant

    Alabama 52% 11/8/99
    Alaska 91% 10/28/99
    Arizona 97% 10/29/99
    Arkansas N/A 11/3/99
    California 98% 10/1/99
    Colorado 98% 10/27/99
    Connecticut 95% 10/18/99
    District of
    Columbia N/A 4/27/99
    Delaware 92% 10/26/99
    Florida 99% 11/5/99
    Georgia 88% 10/28/99
    Guam N/A N/A
    Hawaii 100% 10/07/99
    Idaho 90% 6/23/99
    Illinois 98% 10/21/99
    Indiana 100% 10/29/99
    Iowa 100% 8/27/99
    Kansas 98% 11/1/99
    Kentucky 99% 10/18/99
    Louisiana 96% 10/19/99
    Maine 95% 10/4/99
    Maryland 97% 10/19/99
    Massachusetts 97% 10/18/99
    Michigan 100% 10/12/99
    Minnesota 97% 8/19/99
    Mississippi 90% 7/22/99
    Missouri 92% 10/15/99
    Montana 91% 11/1/99
    Nebraska 100% 10/4/99
    Nevada 97% 10/26/99
    New Hampshire 90% 10/29/99
    New Jersey 99% 11/9/99
    New Mexico 81% 11/2/99
    New York 100% 11/9/99
    North Carolina 95% 10/20/99
    North Dakota 100% 5/6/99
    Ohio 96% 10/29/99
    Oklahoma 75% 3/11/99
    Pennsylvania 99% 9/30/99
    Puerto Rico 76% 10/6/99
    Rhode Island 90% 7/29/99
    South Carolina 95% 10/1/99
    South Dakota 99% 11/1/99
    Tennessee 97% 11/9/99
    Texas 99% 10/21/99
    Utah 90% 9/20/99
    Vermont 96% 9/30/99
    Virginia 99% 10/21/99
    Washington 99% 11/9/99
    West Virginia 95% 9/30/99
    Wisconsin 94% 10/28/99
    Wyoming 85% 10/4/99

* Of U.S. states and territories reporting. Compliance information
was not supplied by Arkansas, the District of Columbia and Guam.

via: nhney2k@onelist.com

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Weekend News Today items (11/11/99)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 09:35:18 -0500

From: "Moza" <moza7@netzero.net>

Israel: Fake quake stirs up Dead Sea

Weekend News Today
By Weekend Staff
Source: Yahoo!

Thu Nov 11,1999 -- Israeli scientists detonated five tons of
explosives at the Dead Sea in a test of earthquake measuring
equipment that sent tremors through environmentalists, Reuters
reported. After the fake quake, a 30-foot-high fountain of water shot
up from the mineral-rich salty sea at the lowest point on earth,
where environmentalists had expressed concern about the fate of
bacteria living in the fishless body of water. The ground shook -- but
not enough to throw any observers, watching from a distance of
about four miles, off their feet. The Dead Sea is on the earthquake
prone Rift Valley fault stretching from Syria to East Africa. Avi
Shapira, director of the seismology division of the Geophysical
Institute of Israel which conducted the test, said earlier it believed
the blast would measure 4.0 on the Richter scale.

Arafat's wife lashes out at Israel in unprecedented scathing attack

Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: IsraelWire

Thu Nov 11,1999 -- Suha Arafat, the wife of PLO Authority (PA)
Chairman Yassir Arafat, on Thursday expressed what is being
called an "unprecedented attack" against Israel in a meeting with
US First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. Arafat stated, "The Israeli
occupational forces have poisoned our air with gases that have
resulted in cancer and the outbreak of other horrible diseases." In
her words, a horrible situation exists in the PA, "After the Israelis
have contaminated 80 percent of the PA's water supply. The earth
below us has absorbed toxic chemicals which have been inherited
from the occupational forces, resulting in serious disease,
especially among the women and children."

Mrs. Clinton did not respond to the horrific allegations, but opted to
acknowledge the establishment of a fund which will provide $4
million for the opening of mother and well-baby clinics inside PA
autonomous areas. There has been no official response from Israel
at the time of this report.

PA demanding release of 'security prisoners'

Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: IsrealWire

Thu Nov 11,1999 -- Israeli and PLO Authority (PA) negotiators are
meeting on Thursday, the second official meeting in the framework
of the final status talks. Negotiators are discussing many issues,
including the upcoming third release of prisoners by Israel. PA
officials are insisting that "security prisoners," namely terrorists, be
released -- calling for the release of terrorists serving long prison
terms. In the past, Israeli officials have attempted to release only
those "security prisoners" who have completed most of their
sentences. The next prisoner release is scheduled for December,
coinciding with the Moslem holy month of Ramadan.

Second final status meeting scheduled for Thursday morning

Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: IsrealWire

Thu Nov 11,1999 -- The second meeting of the PLO Authority (PA)
and Israeli negotiating teams are scheduled to meeting in the PA
autonomous city of Ramallah on Thursday morning. The meeting,
the second in three days, is part of the final status talks of the
Oslo process. The two sides have set an ambitious target date of
February, by which time a framework for the final status will be
established.

Israel's population tops six million

Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: IsrealWire

Thu Nov 11,1999 -- The Fiftieth Statistical Yearbook for the State of
Israel published on Monday reported that the population of Israel
reached 6,169,000 this month, an increase of 154,000 over the
same time period last year, Haaretz reported. The total population
growth rate is 2.5 percent, larger than most countries in the world.
The growth rate in the Moslem sector is the highest at 3.7 percent,
followed by the Druze at 2.3 percent and the Christians at 2.1
percent. The Jewish sector=92s growth rate is the lowest at 1.8
percent.

Unbelievable PA appointment of District Prosecutor

Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: IsrealWire

Thu Nov 11,1999 -- The following report was released by PHRMG
on Wednesday, November 10, 1999. Yassir Arafat decided on
November 7, 1999, to appoint Mr Abdel-Latif Abdel-Fattah as a
General Prosecutor in the PLO Authority (PA) Attorney General
Office in Judea and Samaria. Working for the PA General
Intelligence Service, Mr. Abdel-Fattah was last year convicted by
the Military Court in Jericho of mistreatment and carelessness,
which lead to the death of the citizen Waleed al-Kawasmi in
Jericho prison on August 9 1998. Mr. Abdel-Fattah was sentenced
to serve 7 years in prison for his crime. It was Arafat himself who
ordered the investigation committee who later brought Abdel-Fattah
for trial. Now, one year later, Arafat appointed him to a high rank
position in the General Prosecution System. The Palestinian
Human Rights Monitoring Group (PHRMG) considers this
appointment as seriously undermining the credibility of the judiciary
and the general prosecution system. The torture leading to Waleed
al-Kawasmi's death in prison last year was a gross human rights
violation conducted by Palestinian security forces. The charges
against Waleed al-Kawasmi were never made public.

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Science & Technology items
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 09:35:18 -0500

From: "Moza" <moza7@netzero.net>

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
How to look through walls

BESIDES its use in communications (see article), ultra wideband
(UWB) pulse radio might have a future as a radar that can see
through walls, and do so in great detail. It should, its
manufacturers hope, be able to distinguish a cat from a cat
burglar, or detect barely breathing bodies under several metres
of rubble after an earthquake. More mundanely, do-it-yourself
enthusiasts will be able to use it to check for power cables and
pipes beneath the plaster before they start drilling.

UWB radar works like normal radar in so far as it depends on
sending out radio signals and listening for the reflection. But
unlike ordinary radar, which takes the form of continuous waves,
UWB signals are short pulses of energy.

As a means of radio communication, UWB works because the chips
in the receiver are able to time the pulses they are hearing to
within a few thousand-billionths of a second. Even at the speed
of radio (ie, the speed of light), a pulse will travel only a
few millimetres in that time. Since, in the case of radar, the
receiver is also the transmitter, it knows exactly when a pulse
was sent. By measuring how long that pulse takes to return, it
can place the distance to the point of reflection to within that
level of accuracy-enough to tell whether an aircraft's wing-
flaps are up or down. Four million pulses a second are sent out
to provide a near-perfect picture of what the target looks like.

Conventional radar relies on high-frequency (and therefore
short wavelength) radio waves to achieve high resolution. Long
waves would produce fuzzy images. But when the resolution
depends on pulse-length, wavelength does not matter. So UWB
radar can employ significantly longer wavelengths, and these can
penetrate a wide range of materials, such as brick and stone,
which are denied to their shortwave cousins.The result is
"RadarVision", which, like the communication technology, is
manufactured by Time Domain. Though still experimental, it is
being tested by several police forces around America. They are
using it to look inside closed rooms that might be harbouring
suspects, before the guys with the sledgehammers batter the door
down. If it works, television cop-shows will never be the same
again.

===============================

Bandwidth from thin air

Two new ways of transmitting data by wireless exploit
unconventional approaches to create valuable
additional capacity

THEY may be invisible, yet chunks of radio spectrum are fought
over just as much as parcels of land. Governments raise billions
by auctioning parts of the spectrum to mobile-phone companies
and radio and television stations. Other frequencies are
reserved for air-traffic control or the sending of distress
signals. The most desirable addresses on the spectrum, like
apartments in the trendiest parts of town, are in short supply-
hence the high prices paid for them. To make the most of limited
"bandwidth", as it is known, engineers have devised elaborate
schemes to allow several devices (such as mobile telephones) to
share a single frequency by taking turns to transmit.

Two emerging technologies now promise to propel such trickery
into new realms, by throwing conventional ideas about radio
transmission out of the window. The first involves multiple
simultaneous transmissions on the same frequency. The second, by
contrast, transmits on a huge range of frequencies at once.
Outlandish though it sounds, the effect in both cases is to
create hitherto unforeseen reserves of valuable bandwidth,
practically out of thin air.

Don't all talk at once. Actually, do Turn the dial (or press a
button) on a radio, and you determine which station's signal is
played through the speaker. Now imagine that several radio
stations are transmitting on exactly the same frequency, so that
their signals interfere with one another. Is it possible to
build a new kind of radio, capable of separating the signals, so
that just one of them can be heard clearly? The conventional
answer is no. Once radio signals have been mixed together,
trying to separate them is like trying to unscramble an egg. In
1996, however, Gerard Foschini of Bell Labs (the research arm of
Lucent Technologies, based in Murray Hill, New Jersey) suggested
that multiple transmissions on a single frequency could be
separated after all-by using more than one receiving antenna and
clever signal processing. The result was a technology called
Bell Labs Layered Space-Time, or BLAST.

The prototype system, which is now being tested, transmits via
an array of 12 antennae, all of which broadcast a different
signal, but on exactly the same frequency. At the receiving end
are 16 antennae, also spaced out, each of which receives a
slightly different mixture of the 12 broadcast signals-which
have bounced and scattered off objects along the way. Computer
analysis of the differences between the signals from the
receiving antennae, helped by the fact that those receiving
antennae outnumber the transmitting ones, enables the 12
original signals to be pieced together.

Exploiting this result, it should become possible to transmit
far more data than before over a wireless channel of a
particular size. For convenience, the researchers used a channel
"width" of 30kHz, the size of the channel used by analogue
mobile phones. Normally, a data-hungry process such as accessing
a web page over such a link is painfully slow. But using BLAST,
transmission speeds of up to 1m bits per second have been
achieved. By increasing the number of antennae at each end, it
should become possible to squeeze even more capacity out of a
fixed-size channel, albeit at the cost of far greater
computational effort.

The technology is not, however, intended for mobile use. The
multiple transmitting and receiving antennae, and the powerful
signal-processing hardware involved, will be difficult to fit
inside portable devices. In any case, too much moving around
causes the mixture of signals received by each of the antennae
to vary in ways that even the most sophisticated computer cannot
cope with. Instead, according to Reinaldo Valenzuela, who is in
charge of the research, BLAST is more suitable for use in fixed
wireless applications, such as providing high-speed Internet
access to homes, schools and offices, or establishing telephone
networks in isolated areas without laying cables.

If transmitting several signals on the same frequency sounds
odd, what about transmitting on many frequencies simultaneously?
That is the principle behind another novel form of wireless-
communications technology known as ultra-wideband (UWB). This is
being developed by a small company called Time Domain, which is
based in Huntsville, Alabama. The technology is the brainchild
of Larry Fullerton, an engineer who has spent the past 23 years
working on the idea.

Whereas conventional transmitters (and BLAST transmitters)
operate at a particular frequency, just as a single key on a
piano produces a particular note, a UWB transmitter emits a
pulse of radiation that consists of lots of frequencies at once,
akin to the cacophony that ensues when all the keys on a piano
are pressed at the same time. The pulse is very short-just half
a nanosecond (billionth of a second)-and is transmitted at
extremely low power. Because it is a mixture of so many
frequencies, such a pulse passes unnoticed by conventional
receivers, which are listening for one particular frequency.

But to a UWB receiver, listening on a wide range of frequencies
at once, it registers as a distinct pulse. Information is sent
by transmitting a stream of pulses-apparently at random (to fool
conventional receivers), but actually at carefully chosen
intervals of between 50 and 150 nanoseconds, in a pattern known
to both transmitter and receiver. By varying the exact timing of
each pulse to within a tenth of a nanosecond, slightly early and
slightly late pulses can be used to encode the zeroes and ones
of digital information. The resulting system can transmit data
at 10m bits per second, without any interference with
conventional transmissions.

Or so Mr Fullerton and his backers at Time Domain contend. So
far, however, America's Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
has not approved the technology for anything more than
experimental use. But there are signs that UWB could, after a
long gestation, soon emerge into the marketplace. At a
conference in September to rally support for it, Susan Ness, an
FCC commissioner, spoke in support of the technology and said
regulations permitting it to be used would be announced next
year.

Several firms are lining up to make products based on UWB
technology. Time Domain, which owns the relevant patents, plans
to supply these firms with its chip, called PulsON, to do the
hard work of generating and detecting UWB pulses. And as well as
communications, UWB also has an intriguing potential use in
radar (see article).

Neither BLAST nor UWB quite create something out of nothing.
Both technologies cunningly conjure up extra bandwidth at the
cost of increased computational complexity. Over the past few
years, however, the cost of computing power has plummeted, and
demand for bandwidth has soared. Trading one for the other could
prove to be a very good deal.

LINKS See Lucent Technology's website for more information
about BLAST technology. Ultra-wide band technology is described
on Time Domain's site. Start with the Ultra Wideband Working
Group for more information on the subject.

====================================

Overview The Ultra Wideband Working Group (UWBWG) has been
founded in response to interest voiced by the UWB Community at
the UWB Communications Workshop on May 25-27, 1998, as well as a
result of the FCC's NOI on UWB. Membership is open to
interested parties, and you can become a member just by
subscribing. Members will be actively involved in setting
industry standards, and voting on issues related to technology
deployment.

1999 International UWB Conference The Ultra Wideband Working
Group recently hosted the 1999 International UWB Conference.
The event was held on September 28 -30, 1999, in Washington, DC
at the Crowne Plaza/ Sphinx Club. For more Information visit our
Conference Site.

------------------------------------------------

via: transhumantech@onelist.com

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Nat'l Bible Week Nov 21-28, 1999
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 13:00:53 -0500

From: "Moza" <moza7@netzero.net>

National Bible Week Set
For November 21-28, 1999

NEW YORK, NY (EP) -- Encouraging everyone to read the world's
all-time best seller -- the Bible -- is the focus of the 59th annual
celebration of National Bible Week, which will be observed Nov. 21-
28, 1999.

"The Bible has had an undeniable influence on our culture's art,
music, literature, laws and even our sense of charity. For that
reason alone people should want to be familiar with this book,"
says Stewart Furlong, chairman of the sponsoring organization, the
National Bible Association.

Countless millions of people over the centuries have looked to the
Hebrew and Christian Scriptures for moral and spiritual guidance.
One of them, William E. Simon, former secretary of the treasury, is
chairing National Bible Week this year. Simon recently said he
feels privileged to have a part in this celebration that simply
encourages others to pick up a Bible and read it because, "In the
Bible I personally find the nourishment I need for my daily life."

An interfaith observance, National Bible Week enjoys the
cooperation of civic and, fraternal groups and public libraries, as
well as religious organizations. The sponsoring organization is
solely composed of lay leaders from the business and private
sectors, and has no official ties to any religious or faith community.

Leaders from various levels of government have participated in
National Bible Week since its beginning in 1941 when President
Roosevelt endorsed the event. This year Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-
Conn.) and Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tex.) are serving as
Congressional co-chairs and will enter statements in the
Congressional Record encouraging Bible reading. Governor Don
Sundquist of Tennessee and Mayor Edward Rendell of Philadelphia
are asking their colleagues to join them in issuing state and city
Bible Week proclamations.

(=A9 1999, Evangelical Press News Service)

http://www.mcjonline.com/news/news3620.htm

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