To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Sept 14, 1999 TV Programs
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 14 Sep 1999 08:53:50 +0000

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

9:00 PM Eastern

 FOX - STORM - General recruits meteorologist to control weather.

 HIST - THE GREAT SHIPS - "High Tech, High Seas: Design
   and Construction" - Shipbuilding's history is traced from
   ancient Egypt to the present.(CC)(TVG)

10:00

 HIST - STEALTH TECHNOLOGY - The innovation keeps planes and
   missiles from being detected by enemy radar.(CC)(TVG)

 TLC - THE ULTIMATE TEN TECHNOLOGICAL DISASTERS - Human
   errors lead to technological disasters, including the sinking
   of Titanic.(CC)(TVG)

--- BPR

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Weekend News Today items (9/13/99)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 14 Sep 1999 10:01:00 +0000

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

US cites Israel for religious discrimination

Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: JTA

Mon Sep 13,1999 -- Israel was among the countries cited for
discrimination in the U.S. State Department's first annual assessment
of religious persecution around the world. While Iraq, Afghanistan,
Iran, Serbia and Burma were subject to some of the report's harshest
criticism, Israel was cited for denying its Arab population the same
quality of social services that the nation's Jews receive.

Israel will address claims of Jews during talks

Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: Tampa Bay Online

Mon Sep 13,1999 -- In peace negotiations with the Palestinians on the
rights of refugees, Israel plans to address the material claims of
Jews who fled Arab countries, an Israeli official said Monday, a
tactic some Jewish groups said they would contest. The Jerusalem
Report news magazine said that the Israeli government planned to use
the claims - reportedly billions of dollars worth in assets that Jews
were forced to leave behind - as a counter to compensation claims by
Palestinians who became refugees after the 1948 war for Israel's
independence. Bobby Brown, the adviser to Israel's prime minister on
Diaspora affairs, said that data on Jewish property left in Arab
countries was being gathered in preparation for the talks but rejected
the charge that the government planned to sell out the claims of
Sephardic Jews - those with roots in the Middle East and North Africa.
Brown said the negotiations offer Sephardic Jews the first chance of
obtaining compensation. "For 50 years nobody has taken up their plight
and I think any effort to help the Sephardic community regain what is
rightfully theirs would be welcome in that community," he told The
Associated Press. Brown said that the World Jewish Congress and other
Jewish groups have begun compiling lists of the assets and that over
100,000 registration forms had been distributed in Israel, Europe and
the United States. Hundreds of thousands of Jews left Arab countries
for Israel and elsewhere after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. Most of them
were forced to leave their property behind or to sell it for a
fraction of its real value. There is wide disagreement between Israel
and the Palestinians on the number of Palestinian refugees crearted by
the 1948 war: some Israeli historians place the number as low as
300,000, while the Palestinians say the number may exceed a million.
Palestinian officials also rejected any linkage between the claims of
their people and those of the Sephardic Jews. "Israel has to negotiate
directly with Lebanon, Morocco, Egypt," Daoud Barakat, the Palestinian
coordinator of refugee negotiations, told the Jerusalem Report. The
Palestinians intend to press their compensation claims during the
negotiations on a permanent peace agreement with Israel. The talks
opened Monday and are scheduled to be completed within a year.

Hundreds of businessmen to hold conference between Arab, European
states

Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: Arabic News

Mon Sep 13,1999 -- More than 250 businessmen will participate in the
third conference for developing commercial trade among the Arab and
European states, which will be held in Port Said, Egypt on October 22
- 24, Mohamed Abd El-Fatah El-Masri, secretary general of the Egyptian
trade chamber's union and head of commercial trade in Port Said, said.
This conference is being held for the first time in the southern
Mediterranean, as Rome and Marcella hosted the last two sessions. The
conference focuses on discussing important issues like the role of
private and civilian corporations in supporting commercial and
economic relations, as well as the possibility of establishing joint
investment projects among the participants in this conference.

Moscow's security now at war level says governor

Weekend News Today
By Kelly Pagatpatan
Source: UPI

Mon Sep 13,1999 -- The governor of the Moscow Region said today that
security levels around strategic sites in the region had been stepped
up to a level of war security after the spate of terrorist bombings in
the Russian capital. Anatoly Tyazhlov says power stations, dams, oil
refineries and factories belonging to defense industries are now on a
war footing with maximum security. People found in the vicinity of
these facilities without documents are being detained.

Turkey's membership in EU possible as talks progress

Weekend News Today
By Kelly Pagatpatan
Source: Reuters

Mon Sep 13,1999 -- The European Union and Turkey broke the ice Monday
at talks intended to end a spell of poor relations and put Ankara on
the road to EU membership. Talks over lunch between Turkish Foreign
Minister Ismail Cem and EU foreign ministers, as expected, produced no
agreement on the key issue of Turkey's demand to join the 15-nation
bloc. But both sides hailed the talks as "positive" and agreed to
build on the improvement in relations by meeting again in Istanbul in
November, less than one month before an EU summit at which Turkey
hopes to be made a formal candidate for membership. "Yes, I think
there was progress and I see optimistic possibilities during the
autumn," Finnish Foreign Minister Tarja Halonen, whose country holds
the EU presidency, said in reference to the talks ahead on Turkey's
membership bid. Cem, who smiled often and looked relaxed at a joint
news conference with Halonen, said: "I agree. ... I think the approach
is, and should be, one of cooperation, not of confrontation." He said
he had invited the foreign ministers for lunch on the sidelines of a
summit of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE) in Istanbul on Nov. 18-19.

Permanent Status talks begin

Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: Arutz 7

Mon Sep 13,1999 -- The permanent-status talks with the PA will begin
this evening in a festive ceremony at the Erez Checkpoint on the
border of the Gaza Strip. PA Chairman Arafat announced last night that
the purpose of the talks is to bring about a Palestinian state and the
"return of the refugees." Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh
similarly said today that it is likely that the final-status talks
will not lead to a permanent-status agreement before the deadline set
by Barak - the end of the year 2000. MK Ahmed Tibi, who formerly
served as a top Arafat advisor opined today that a final-status
arrangement would not be attained during Ehud Barak's term in office.
Arafat said yesterday that there would be no peace without Jerusalem
as capital of a Palestinian state. Arab-affairs expert Dr. Guy Bechor,
of the Inter-disciplinary Center in Herzliya, said that tough
statements of this nature are merely an opening bargaining position.
"I actually think it very likely that a final-status arrangement will
be achieved within the year - largely because of Arafat's age," Bechor
told Arutz-7 today. "I think that we will see very significant steps
towards the formation of a Palestinian state within the coming year -
before the end of the deadline set by Barak. Arafat, who is now over
70 and not in the best of health, will show great flexibility, because
he wants to see a Palestinian state in his lifetime. I think that his
concessions will include an agreement to de-militarize the whole
[Palestinian] state. In addition, he will accept less than the whole
of Judea and Samaria - some entire strips adjacent to [pre-1967]
Israel will come under full Israeli sovereignty, and some settlements
will come under Palestinian sovereignty - just like there are Arab
villages in Israel... they will be afforded full Israeli protection.
Also regarding the refugees [from 1948] - it's understandable that he
is raising this issue now, but he really does not expect millions to
return, and actually he doesn't even want them back, because he knows
that many of them are hostile to him. Instead, he simply wants the
compensation! This money will help him to build his state. In
Jerusalem, too, I think the Palestinians will make significant
concessions, simply in order to get a state... You have no idea how
important [Arafat's] personal factor is in this issue." Bechor
admitted, however, that his opinions were "surprising."

Control of 7% more of Yesha trasferred to PA

Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: Arutz 7

Mon Sep 13,1999 -- Seven percent of Judea and Samaria (Yesha) was
officially transferred late this morning to the Palestinian
Authority's administrative control. In an exchange-of-maps ceremony in
the offices of the Civil Administration Authority in Beit El, the PA
received jurisdiction over such matters as transportation, public
works, tourism, holy sites, and others. The Arabs will no longer
require Israeli permission to build in these areas, and based on past
experience, Israeli troops will not enter the territory as freely as
before. Environmental elements in Yesha have warned against the
resulting ecological effects of PA construction. "Already now, it is
clear that the PA will not build according to Israeli standards,"
warns Ariel Mayor Ron Nachman, "and the planned PA industrial zone and
quarries will have disastrous effects on the entire region and further
away." Regarding the Palestinians' right to build freely, Nachman
asks: "Where is the reciprocity in this agreement? If they can build
in their Area B (under Palestinian civil control), why can't we build
in our Area C (full Israeli control)?"

PA hands out weapons to released Arab killers

Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: IsraelWire

Mon Sep 13,1999 -- The PLO Authority (PA) has been distributing
weapons, including submachine guns, to the 199 Arab terrorists,
including killers, who were released from Israeli prisons last week.
Israel Television Channel 2 News (Sept 9) reported that "the
terrorists released today by Israel were handed out weapons by the PA
when they reached Gaza." The Associated Press (Sept 9) described how
Jamal Imtur, who had served 14 years of a life sentence for murder,
"got a hero's welcome in Hebron, where PA police outfitted him with a
submachine gun and led a 50-car convoy to his village 20 minutes
away." The Oslo accords prohibit the PA from giving weapons to anybody
except members of the PA police force. The Zionist Organization of
America (ZOA) has demanded that the Clinton administration insist that
Arafat stop arming the terrorists. ZOA National President Morton A.
Klein said: "By giving these released killers weapons and a heroes'
welcome, Yassir Arafat and the Palestinian Authority are mocking the
entire Oslo process, and showing they have no interest in creating an
environment of peace and conciliation. Giving guns to killers
encourages them to commit murder again, and intensifies the atmosphere
in Palestinian Arab society that glorifies murder. The Clinton
administration should demand that Arafat and the PA stop arming and
glorifying terrorists, and mocking the purpose of the Oslo, Wye, and
Sharm el-Sheikh accords."

President Clinton may take action to renew Israeli/Syrian talks

Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: IsraelWire

Mon Sep 13,1999 -- High-level White House sources have indicated that
if US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright does not succeed in her
attempt to renew talks between Israel and Syria, President Bill
Clinton may become personally involved. Sources on Capitol Hill
explained that the president is anxious to secure a deal between
Israel and Syria prior to the completion of his second term in office.
Syrian officials have made repeated statements indicating their
willingness to resume talks with Israel but remain firm in the demand
for an unconditional Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights as a
prerequisite. Damascus maintains that the late prime minister Yitzhak
Rabin had made an oral commitment to such a withdrawal and President
Hafez el-Assad was unwilling to accept anything less from Jerusalem
before the start of talks.

Barak will withdraw from Lebanon next year

Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: ArabicNews

Mon Sep 13,1999 -- The Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak has stated
that the next Hebrew year will witness the Israeli army outside the
security zone in South Lebanon and deployed along the international
borders. In an interview he made on Friday commenting on statements
made by the Lebanese President Emile Lahoud in that if an agreement is
reached between Israel and each of Syria and Lebanon " there will be
no way for the Hizbullah party." Barak stressed that he views these
statements as positive, adding that the main objective of his policy
is to reach a comprehensive peace in the Middle East. On the relations
between Egypt and Israel, Barak expressed his hope that these
relations will be developed following the signing of the Sharm
al-Sheikh agreement.On Israel's relations with Jordan, Barak said that
" he and the Jordanian King Abdullah are working to give these
relations large impetus."

Barak: President al-Assad is an honest man

Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: ArabicNews

Mon Sep 13,1999 -- The Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said that
nothing will stop his search to build peace with Syria, noting that
such a peace will strengthen Israel's might. In an interview with the
London based Jewish Chronicle published on Friday, Barak added we have
to embark on all means for the sake of peace. He described President
Hafez al-Assad as "a man who keeps his promise, sincere and honest."
The Israeli prime minister expressed his optimism over resuming
negotiations with Damascus while he is in power, after these
negotiations had been actually frozen under his predecessor Netanyahu,
for three years. He added " I find no reason preventing the Syrians
from negotiating with us."He ruled out the idea that the Syrians will
not find a formula to resume negotiations with him.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Environmental News Service: Healing our world
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 14 Sep 1999 10:01:00 +0000

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

Healing Our World: Weekly Comment
By Jackie Alan Giuliano, Ph.D.

Earth's Rich Harvest Worth a Celebration

We can never have enough of nature. We must be refreshed by the
sight of inexhaustible vigor, vast and titanic features, the sea-
coast with its wrecks, the wilderness with its living and its
decaying trees, the thundercloud, and the rain which lasts three
weeks ... We need to witness our own limits transgressed, and
some life pasturing freely where we never wander. -- Henry David
Thoreau

Many faiths are celebrating this time of year. In the Northern
Hemisphere, we are approaching Fall or Autumn. On September 23
at 7:31 am Eastern Standard Time, we will experience the
Autumnal Equinox or "Mabon" as it is known to those who practice
the pagan Sabbats. For at least the last 12,000 years, people
all over the world have celebrated the passage of time, the
journey of the Earth around the Sun, in ways that have connected
their lives to the life of our planet. How might our lives be
changed and our environmental problems be helped if we took more
time to recognize the seasons and the wisdom they bring?

Mabon (pronounced May-bone or Mah-boon ) was named for the
Welsh God who symbolized the male fertilizing principle in
the Welsh myths. In astronomicalterms, the Autumnal Equinox is
the time when the Sun is right on the celestial equator,
passing from the Northern Hemisphere to the Southern. What
this means is that on that day, there will be a day and a night
of equal length.

We participants in the modern world won't notice it - our
streetlights and headlights and indoor lighting have long
since erased our notice of the differences between light and
dark. But to people who are more connected to the natural world,
a day of equal light and dark is a powerful time.

It is a time of balance - a time to make peace with the dark
and to consider it as part of the light, not to be feared but to
be embraced. For a brief moment, all is thought to be in balance
- the goddess and the god have equal power on this night, the
forces of evil and good are equally matched and, as the old
Norse people believed, one's fate for the coming year is sealed.

It is a time that is celebrated around the world. In China, the
day marks the end of the rice harvest and is known as Chung
Ch'u. Jews celebrate Succoth near this time, a harvest holiday
with roots in pagan culture, and the Jewish New Year begins with
Rosh Hashanah. In old Rome, the time was celebrated with a party
that went on for many days marking the Festival of Dionysus, the
God of Wine.

Mabon begins the time when the leaves die and Nature withers,
spent after giving forth her abundance of life giving foods. She
must rest so that the cycle can begin again. For those that came
before us and those that strive today to be part of the natural
world, it is naturally a time to reflect upon death, its meaning
and importance. Darkness will soon overtake the light. It is an
important time of regeneration, not a time of evil.

We don't think much about harvest in the urban world. Our
harvest comes from the supermarket and can be picked 24 hours a
day. But in places around the world, and in many backyards and
fields where industrialized agriculture and cloned, genetically
engineered, pesticide demanding crops are nowhere to be found,
it is a time to gather the last fresh food for the year. That is
why nuts, apples and grapes are featured in many cultures'
thanksgiving feasts - they are all autumn crops.

It is a powerful awareness, and a great sadness, to realize
that we no longer notice these things. To us today, the coming
of darkness means we turn on the light and the TV. The shorter
days mean that we turn back the clocks, reinforcing our fears of
the dark. We will often do anything we can to avoid
introspection and quiet moments with ourselves.

It will take decisive action to eliminate our environmental and
social issues. It will take letters to elected representatives,
boycotts of socially irresponsible companies, and changes in
behaviors for all of us. But we need energy for those actions,
fuel for our hearts and our souls.

That energy can only come from a connection with the Earth, the
source of all our strength, and from a deep appreciation of the
web of life that we are all a part of. The celebration of
seasonal cycles can be an easy and meaningful way to create the
energy we all need for action.

On the Autumnal Equinox this year, have a celebration with
family, friends, or just yourself. Take a moment to appreciate
the vitality of this season and to visualize the harvest all
around you. Take a moment to be grateful for the bounty you have
received.

Just be aware that you share this Earth and that every action
you take effects her and everyone and everything on the planet.
Once these things are noticed, they cannot be forgotten - and
you will never be the same.

RESOURCES

1. Much of the information about Mabon came from "Sabbats" by
Edain McCoy (Llewellyn Publications, St. Paul, MN, 1994).

2. Want to view the current phase of the Moon? Visit
http://www.fourmilab.ch/cgi-bin/uncgi/Eart h/action?opt=-m&img=Moon.evif.

3. If you live in Southern California (or even if you don't),
you can check out the Yoruba House, an African drumming
cooperative that celebrates all the seasonal cycles. Their web
site is at http://www.primenet.com/~yoruba/welcome.ht ml

4. Visit the owlcam at
http://members.aol.com/owlbox/early99/earl y99.htm to see a
family of owls living and raising their young. Updated daily.

5. Find out who your Congressional representatives are and e-
mail them about issues that you care about. If you know your Zip
code, you can find them at
http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/ziptoit. html or you can
search by state at http://www.webslingerz.com/jhoffman/congre ss-
email.html. You can also find your representatives at
http://congress.nw.dc.us/innovate/index.ht ml

Visit the Healing Our World Archive and check out the many
resource links in past articles.

{Jackie Giuliano, a writer and a Professor of Environmental
Studies, can be found in Los Angeles, California, watching the
pumpkin in his garden grow. Please send your thoughts, comments,
and visions to him at jackie@healingourworld.com and visit his
web site at www.healingourworld.com}

http://ens.lycos.com/ens/sep99/1999L-09-13g.html

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Infobeat News items (9/14/99)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 14 Sep 1999 10:01:01 +0000

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

*** U.S. seeks Hussein war crime trial

WASHINGTON (AP) - Renewing its campaign to remove Saddam Hussein as
Iraq's president, the Clinton administration said Monday it was
seeking to establish an international tribunal to prosecute him and
senior aides as war criminals. Hundreds of Kurds have been killed and
900,000 made homeless in a new round of repression in the north, while
160 homes of Shiites in the southern village of al-Masha were
bulldozed in late June in response to protests against inadequate
distribution of food and medicine, the State Department said in a
report. The report included photographs taken by U.S. intelligence.
See http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2561144780-01b

*** Arab League supports sanctions lift

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Iraq's relationship with other Arab states,
uneasy since the Gulf War, has been buoyed by a new mood of
reconciliation, the Arab League's secretary general said Monday.
Speaking at the close of the league's two-day meeting here, Esmat
Abdel-Meguid said Arab states would like to see the lifting of U.N.
sanctions, which is Iraq claims is causing great suffering among its
people. But he noted that there were "very serious political problems"
in the way of Arab consensus on a public policy opposing the
sanctions. And Kuwait said it was up to Iraq to take steps that would
let the sanctions be lifted. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2561143628-794

*** Evidence of ancient disaster found

SHELL, Wyo. (AP) - A scientist has found fossil evidence of a large
pileup of dinosaur bodies that suggests a possible natural disaster
more than 140 million years ago. Kirby Siber, director of a commercial
dinosaur museum in Aathal, Switzerland, said the evidence is contained
in a dig he has been working for the past decade near Shell, in
northern Wyoming. Siber believes the dinosaur fossils represent a
remarkable Jurassic catastrophe, such as a huge hurricane, flood or
similar natural event. "This is not the temporary richness of one trap
in one river," Siber said in Monday's editions of The Billings (Mont.)
Gazette. "If there are dozens here, and we have proven that there are,
then there are probably hundreds or even thousands." See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2561145656-a47

*** Miss America eligibility broadens

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) - In a stunning departure from tradition, the
Miss America Pageant has lifted its ban on women who are divorced or
have had an abortion, The Associated Press has learned. The board of
the Miss America Organization voted last month to drop the 49-year-old
rule. The change takes effect next year. Fear of violating New
Jersey's discrimination laws spurred the change, according to court
documents obtained Monday. Since 1950, contestants have had to swear
they had never been married and never been pregnant in order to vie
for the rhinestone crown and thousands of dollars in scholarship
money. The new rules would require simply they sign a document saying
"I am unmarried" and "I am not pregnant and I am not the natural or
adoptive parent of any child." See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2561144009-362

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Final Status Talks: A Mission Impossible
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 14 Sep 1999 12:24:43 +0000

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

Final-Status Talks: A Mission Impossible

GAZA STRIP (Agencies) -- Palestinian and Israeli negotiators
began Monday final status talks in a bid to put a final end to
the '100 year conflict', a mission they hope to achieve within a
year.

Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy and Palestinian President
Yasser Arafat's de facto deputy Abu Mazen, calling for an end to
decades of conflict, met at the Israel-Gaza border for the
ceremonial opening of a year of negotiations.

But wide differences on the shape of a lasting peace cast their
shadow over the event.

Israel talks tough

The adversaries did not miss the opportunity to reaffirm their
respective positions which, if taken literally, would make a
compromise highly unlikely.

In his speech Monday, Levy set down Israel's bedrock positions
under Prime Minister Ehud Barak which Palestinians have said did
not differ greatly from those of the man he defeated in May
elections, right-winger Benjamin Netanyahu.

"Israel's fundamental principle will be no return to 1967
borders," Levy said, referring to the 1967 Middle East war when
Israel occupied the West Bank, including Arab East Jerusalem,
and the Gaza Strip.

"A united Jerusalem will remain the capital of the state of
Israel. Blocs of settlements will remain under Israeli control.

No foreign army will exist west of the Jordan river," he said.

Palestinians firm on State, Jerusalem

Abu Mazen said no one should doubt the Palestinians' will to
establish an independent state.

"We aspire to live within the borders of an independent
Palestinian state, on the June 4, 1967 boundaries, with holy
Jerusalem as its capital," Abu Mazen said.

He said the Palestinians wanted a just solution to the issue of
Palestinian refugees and he called for the dismantling of Jewish
settlements on occupied land.

Israel tightens grip over the holy city

Just as the final status talks were under way at the Erez
crossing, an Israeli inter-ministerial committee on Jerusalem
was meeting to discuss financial questions involved in
maintaining the Jewish state's sovereignty over the city, a
source close to the committee said.

According to the source the committee agreed to create a joint
committee between the treasury and the municipality to be placed
under Barak's direction.

"It will consider budgetary needs to ensure the holy city
remains undivided as Israel's eternal capital, particularly as
intensive talks with the Palestinians have begun," the source
said.

Meanwhile Justice Minister Yossi Bellin presented the committee
with a plan to construct a vast complex in occupied Jerusalem
aimed at housing foreign embassies, noting that Israel has
announced its intention to gain international recognition of the
city as capital of the Jewish state.

The source said that a sub-committee had also been formed to
deal with security issues as well as the question of the city's
churches.

Barak makes his point

One day after the launch of talks on a final peace accord with
the Palestinians, Israeli PM Ehud Barak will be making his own
contribution to the peace efforts by visiting the largest Jewish
settlement in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday.

A spokesman for Barak's office said the visit to Maale Adumin,
which lies just to the east of occupied Jerusalem and boasts a
population of around 20,000.

Maale Adumin is one of 160-odd Jewish settlements in the West
Bank and Gaza Strip whose future is to be determined in the
final status talks which opened Monday evening.

http://www.arabia.com/content/news/9_99/finaltalks14.shtml

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Statfor report on recent Moscow bombings
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 14 Sep 1999 10:36:09 -0500

From: <owner-bpr@philologos.org>

STRATFOR.COM
Global Intelligence Update
September 14, 1999

Who Gains From the Moscow Apartment Bombings?

Summary:

The explosions in Moscow during the past week are among the most
deadly in Russia's recent past. The Russian administration blames the
Chechens, but we will not attempt the impossible task of assigning
blame. Rather, we will discuss who could benefit from the bombings.
We can find no evidence that Chechen rebels - or the Russian mafiya,
another suspect group - would benefit from bombing Moscow
apartment buildings. Only political forces in Moscow would seem to
benefit.

Analysis:

Explosions in two apartment buildings in Moscow have claimed over
200 lives in the past five days. No group has claimed responsibility
and the police have made no definitive statements indicating they
have specific suspects under investigation. While there is not enough
information to assign blame for these bombings, we can eliminate
some of the suspects and discuss who could gain - namely, political
forces in Moscow.

The target and death toll from the recent spate of bombings in Russia
are inconsistent with previous acts of political or criminal retribution
dating from 1996. Bomb attacks in Russia are forms of political protest,
gang warfare and ultra-nationalism. Hence, the target is defined for
each case, inhibiting collateral damage. Strictly political bombings
occurred in Moscow immediately before and after the 1996 presidential
elections, killing four and injuring dozens in separate incidents. The
highest toll on lives lost in the republics until the recent attack was in
North Ossetia in 1998, with 53 dead and 100 wounded. The current
casualty count for the first bombing on September 9 is 92, higher than
any single bomb attack in Russia since World War II.

Russian leaders, including Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzkhov, have
chosen the Chechens as the preferred scapegoat. Interior Minister
Vladimir Rushailo, who was appointed head of the investigation into
the bombings, has also announced that his prime suspects are the
Chechens. Although Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's September 13
statement that the bombing was "a clear terrorist act" did not
specifically name the Chechens, proof that they were responsible
would legitimize further force in Chechnya. He said if a link is found
between the bombings in Moscow and the fighting in Dagestan, the
"federal government will consider itself within its rights to use all
resources at its disposal to rebuff the aggression."

Russians may be willing to believe that Chechens are attacking in
Moscow as well as the Caucasus, but it is highly unlikely. In his
statement of denial, rebel leader Shamil Basayev said, "We had
nothing to do with the explosion in Moscow. We never kill civilians.
This is not our style."

Based on the group's activities in Dagestan, Basayev is correct.
Generally, Chechen forces have targeted military and police forces.
The bombing early this month of Russian military housing in Buinaksk
killed 64 people, including members of military families. The target,
though, was clearly a military installation.

Chechen militants also have not attacked regions outside the ones
they intend to claim - Dagestan and Chechnya. And finally, since the
Islamic rebels have a spokesman and a press center through which to
publicize their fight, we would expect them to claim their actions; they
have not. These reasons lead us to believe that the Islamic militants
led by Basayev are not the perpetrators of the Moscow bombs.

Organized crime is another potential but improbable suspect. Russian
organized crime is motivated by profit and expansion. The mafiya is
not known to commit mass murders, especially through such overt
actions as bombs large enough to demolish entire apartment
buildings. According to an FBI report, the Russian mafiya prefers
economic crimes such as fraud, extortion, theft, drug trafficking and
contract killing. The apartment building bombs were not tightly
controlled to target one or a few specific targets. Reports of typical
mafiya activities do not suggest that these explosions were
coordinated by the Russian organized crime element. Large-scale
bombings against civilian targets simply do not fit into the Russian
mafiya's modus operandi.

Having eliminated both the mafiya and Chechens as likely suspects, it
is now interesting to question who else could gain from the bombings.
With President Boris Yeltsin in his last year in office and parliamentary
elections due this December, the political situation in Russia is tense
and agitated. The war in the Caucasus adds to the situation, and a
Chechen bombing crusade could give Russia license to execute a full
force campaign against Chechnya.

The Moscow bombings could also push the Duma to declare a state
of emergency in the outlying regions. Preliminary debate on how to
enforce such a condition is scheduled for September 14. Until recently,
most of the nation was strongly against this type of action.

Speaker of the Federation Council, the upper house of parliament,
Yegor Stroyev, firmly opposed emergency measures due to the
situation in Dagestan. However, after the second Moscow apartment
block bombing, he said there was "a need to consolidate the legal
base for combating the rampage of terrorism and crime." Speaker of
the lower house, the State Duma, Gennadiy Seleznev, said September
13 that the Duma would begin its September 14 meeting by discussing
a draft law on regulating a state of emergency in some regions.

A state of emergency would interfere with December parliamentary
elections. This could benefit Yeltsin, who would like to see the
elections postponed until he can ensure a loyal successor. Yeltsin's
opponents, such as former Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov, have
long feared that Yeltsin would call a state of emergency for political
gain. The recent bombings could give him the excuse to do this
legitimately.

http://www.stratfor.com/

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Cornerstone for the Third Temple
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 14 Sep 1999 18:33:05 +0000

From: "Croteau Network" <croteaunet@ime.net>

-----Original Message-----
From: Temple Mount Faithfull <gershon@templemountfaithful.org>
To: tmf-list@templemountfaithful.org <tmf-list@templemountfaithful.org>
Date: Tuesday, September 14, 1999 12:47 PM
Subject: Cornerstone for the Third Temple

Cornerstone for the Third Temple
Sukkoth 5760 (1999)

On Monday 27th September, 1999, the third day of the Feast of
Tabernacles, at 09:00 AM, The Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful
Movement will hold an historical event; the cornerstone for the Third
Temple will be carried to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem to be laid on
the south-eastern corner of the location of the First and Second
Temples to start the godly process of the rebuilding of the Temple.
The event will start at the Western Wall Plaza close to the ramp
leading up to the Western Gate of the Temple Mount.

As usual, it appears that the Arabs who still manage the Temple Mount,
will do their best to prevent this event from taking place and the
Israeli authorities will not allow the cornerstone to be laid on the
Temple Mount because of fear of the hostile Arab reaction. The
Israeli authorities will only allow the cornerstone to be brought
close to the Eastern Gate o f the Temple Mount and to the City of
David. However, we still have almost 2 week until the event and we
will do our best to convince the Israeli authorities to open the gates
of the Temple Mount for the cornerstone.

This event, which was the biggest dream of the Jewish people over the
last 1900 years since the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E. will
completely change the status quo in Israel, the Middle East and all
over the world. It will fire the imagination of all mankind and open
their hearts and eyes to understand the godly end-time task which G-d
gave to modern Israel. This will be a key event which will not only
change the life of Israel but the life of all mankind. The rebuilding
of the Temple will bring the major end-time events to a climax and
open the gate for the coming of Mashiach ben David. This will show
that we wish to bring the G-d of Israel and His commandments and laws
into the centre of our life and the Word of G-d in Isaiah 2:2-5 will
become a reality in our generation. "And it shall come to pass in the
last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established
on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and
all nations shall flow to it. And many people shall go and say, Come,
and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God
of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his
paths; for from Zion shall go forth Torah, and the word of the Lord
from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall
decide for many people; and they shall beat their swords into
plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift
up sword against nation, nor shall they learn war any more. O house of
Jacob, come, and let us walk in the light of the Lord."

G-d is ready for this great vision to be fulfilled in our lifetime and
the great godly event of the rebirth of Israel in 1948 opened this
era. We are living in a great godly time and we know that G-d is
expecting us to rebuild His house. When we founded the Temple Mount
Faithful Movement, we immediately understood that we are living in
G-d's timing and we decided to be G-d `s vessel for this great godly
cause. We felt privileged to dedicate our lives for this goal, not
just as a theoretical vision, but to make it a practical event in out
lifetime. To those who do not have the vision and the godly values to
understand this and who say that the time to rebuild G-d's house in
Jerusalem, because of fear of the Arab Islamic reaction, and the other
enemies of Israel all over the world, including the great powers, we
shall say what Joshua and Caleb said when the 10 spies told Moses and
Israel that they could not take the Promised Land because of the
giants: We shall go and take the land which G-d promised us and we
trust that G-d will give us success and defeat all the giants. We
shall also say what the prophet Haggai said in the name of G-d to the
poeple of Israel at a very similar time in the life of the people of
Israel: "Thus speaks the Lord of hosts, saying, This people say that
the time has not yet come, the time that the Lord's house should be
built. Then came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet, saying,
Is it time for you, yourselves, to dwell in your well timbered houses,
while this house lies in ruins? And therefore thus says the Lord of
hosts; Consider your ways. You have sown much, and bring in little;
you eat, but you have not enough; you drink, but you are not filled
with drink; you dress yourself, but there is no warm; and he who earns
wages earns wages to put it into a bag with holes. Thus says the Lord
of hosts; Consider your ways. Go up to the mountain, and bring wood,
and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be
glorified, says the Lord. You looked for much, and, behold, it came to
little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? says the
Lord of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, and everyone of
you runs to his own house."

The laying of the cornerstone will be an exciting event. In the early
morning the 4=BD tonne marble cornerstone, which according to the Word
of G-d, was not cut with iron, will be taken under a chuppah on a
flat-bed truck covered with Israel flags. A priest, who will wear the
original priestly garments prepared over the last years in Jerusalem
according to the godly laws after much research, will follow the
cornerstone. He will carry the vessel to draw the water from the Pool
of Siloam which will be poured on the stone. Other vessels which were
also recently reconstructed for the Temple Mount will also be carried
by other priests. Levites will play musical instruments which were
reconstructed according to the design of the musical instruments of
the First and Second Temples. They will also blow shofars. From the
Eastern walls and gate of the Temple Mount, the cornerstone will be
taken to the City of David and be anointed to be the cornerstone of
the Third Temple in the same place where 3000 years ago, King David
anointed the Ark of the Covenant of the First Temple. From there, the
cornerstone will then be taken. Followed by the crowd, to the Pool of
Siloam where the Biblical ceremony of the drawing the water, as done
in the time of the First and Second Temples, will be performed. The
water will be poured on the cornerstone. In the Biblical times this
was a special ceremony performed by the pilgrims together with the
kings of Israel , the priests and the Levites. It was a ceremony full
of joy and celebration when they asked G-d to bless the year and to
give them a lot of rain and to bless the ground.

In this event we shall renew all of these and other Biblical
traditions and bring them close to the hearts of people and we shall
give all the people of Israel and all the world the feeling that it is
again a reality in our lifetime.

Friends and members of the Temple Mount Faithful Movement from Israel
and from all over the world will participate in this exciting event
and everyone is called on and invited to be together with us on this
special day.

The event of the building of the Third Temple, the end-time Temple,
belongs to everyone in the world. G-d dedicated and anointed Israel to
rebuild the Temple, but He expects everyone to participate and to be a
part of it because the Third Temple will, according to the Word of G-d
, be "a house of prayer for all nations". We call on everyone in the
world to join us in this godly work. If you can join us on this day in
this event you will be welcomed with deep appreciation and love. If
you cannot come, be with us, encourage, support and help us in the
coming time in any way that you can. Our activities in the coming year
will be very intensive and your help is needed even more than at any
time in the past.

May G-d bless all of us that in this new Hebrew year, and very soon,
we shall see the fulfillment of this major godly cause, the coming of
Maschiach ben David and that we shall stand hand-in-hand before G-d in
His rebuilt house in Jerusalem and we shall thank Him and give Him
glory for the great privilege that He gave us of acting and working
for this great cause at a time when it was so needed. This day is soon
to come.

A happy and blessed new year to all of you. May the G-d of Israel
bless you.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Arutz-7 News items (9/14/99)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 14 Sep 1999 18:33:05 +0000

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

Y2K - SOLVED AT HEBREW UNIVERSITY?
A solution to the Y2K problem, applicable to all databases, has been
developed by Ben-Etzion Yaron, head of the Manpower and Payroll
Section at the Department of Computerized Information Systems at the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Announcement of the new Y2K solution
was made today at a press conference at the Hebrew University. The
development is claimed to provide an exacting and speedy solution to
most of the problems that may develop in operation of large
information-processing systems at the approach of the year 2000, thus
preventing possible crises in the operations of banks, insurance
companies, government offices, payroll operations and other systems.

Yaron explained today that his solution for the Y2K problem compresses
four digits for the years 2000 and the years following into two
symbols. It accomplishes this by utilizing special algorithms for
expanding two symbols into four digits and for compressing four digits
into two symbols. The solution, for which patents are pending in the
U.S., can reportedly be applied to all computer languages and be used
with all computers. Yaron estimates that the time required to convert
databases to deal with the year 2000 problem using the new solution is
15-20% of the time required using other solutions. For his invention,
Yaron has already won an award - the Kaye Innovation Award issued by
the Hebrew University's Board of Governors.

Morocco has refused Prime Minister Barak's request to pay an official
visit there next week, following his two-day trip to Europe. Barak is
scheduled to leave after Yom Kippur for a visit to France and Germany,
where he will speak in the newly-renovated Reichstag building in
Berlin...

Arutz Sheva News Service
     <http://www.a7.org>
Tuesday, September 14, 1999 / Tishrei 4, 5760

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Silicon chip could help us to feel others' pain
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 14 Sep 1999 18:47:48 +0000

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

From The Times,
http://www.the-times.co.uk/news/pages/tim/99/09/14/timnwsnws01032.html
?999
- September 14 1999 BRITAIN

A silicon chip could help us to feel others' pain

SILICON chips implanted in the arm and linked to the nervous system
could be used to control computers, or even allow two people to share
the same sensations and emotions, a British expert in electronics
said.

Kevin Warwick of Reading University said that within 18 months he
planned to try the experiment on himself. Last year he implanted a
chip in his arm that could be used to open the door of his department
at the university.

The new plan is more radical. Professor Warwick wants to establish a
direct connection between silicon and nerve cells. He plans to implant
a device in his upper arm that picks up signals from the nervous core
and transmits them through a skin-mounted device to a computer.

"The first step will be setting up a link and trying a few basic
things," he said. "For example, if I raise my arm, or move my fingers,
we hope to use the nerve signal generated to turn a light on on the
computer screen. You can do this by wrapping a collar around the arm,
but the signal is weak and there is a lot of noise. By connecting
directly to the nerve we should get better results."

He said devices of this sort might be useful to paraplegics. Work in
the US and Germany has shown that it is possible to tap into brain
waves with devices attached to the skull, or implanted in the brain,
and use them to control computers. But he admits that there could be
dangers in making a direct connection to nerve fibres.

Any damage could cause loss of function or partial paralysis. Even
though he will be the only guinea-pig, he acknowledged that the
experiment will need clearance from the local ethics committee.

Further in the future he envisages connecting the nervous systems of
two people using similar devices. "The long-term aim is to get
communication between people by means of thought alone," he said.

An intruiging question, he said, would be whether the two people
connected in this way would feel the same sensations, or even
emotions.

via: isml@onelist.com