BPR Mailing List Digest: 08/11/00

Philologos
BPR Mailing List Digest
August 11, 2000

Digest Home | 2000 | August, 2000

To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Hubble images reveal details of comet's breakup
From: bpr-list@philologos.org
Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2000 07:05:47 -0500

http://www.cnn.com/2000/TECH/space/08/10/hubble.linear/index.html

Hubble images reveal details of comet's breakup

August 10, 2000
10:40 AM EDT (1440 GMT)

(CNN) -- One comet, made out of many. That's the surpising model
revealed by comet LINEAR, whose dramatic demise was photographed late
last month by the Hubble Space Telescope.

A series of close-up images reveal that the comet left behind a small
armada of "mini-comets" after it broke up as it passed within 72
million miles of the sun on July 26, scientists with the Space
Telescope Science Institute said this week.

The comet at first appeared to disintegrate completely, but
scientists revised their interpretation after viewing the latest
Hubble images.

Though comets have been known to break apart and vanish before, this
is the first time astronomers are getting a close-up view of the
dismantling of a comet's nucleus due to solar warming. The results
support the popular theory that comet nuclei are really made up of a
cluster of smaller icy bodies called "cometesimals," according to a
statement from the institute.

Without the clarity of the Hubble Telescope -- about 10 times better
than most ground-based telescopes, and about 500 times more powerful
than most home telescopes -- the event would have received little
attention from researchers.

Hubble was able to magnify the comet and measure the rapid increase
in brightness as it erupted even though the comet was 74 million
miles away from the Earth's surface.

The outburst was likened by scientists to a volcanic explosion,
though temperatures below the surface of the comet are about minus
100 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 75 C).

Eruptions increase in frequency the closer comets get to the sun.
Scientists believe there is an increase in activity because comets
such as LINEAR have a very fragile and "fluffy" composition, making
them easily susceptible to the sun's heat.

The LINEAR comet was named for the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology team that discovered it in September.

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Scientist Plans to Zap Tornadoes with Microwaves
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2000 08:30:47 -0400

Wednesday August 9 2:24 PM ET
Scientist Plans to Zap Tornadoes with Microwaves

By Bill Rosato

LONDON (Reuters) - Ben Eastlund is not a comic-book superhero but he
does believe he can emulate Superman by stopping tornadoes in their
tracks, using microwave radiation.

Eastlund, an expert on electromagnetism who headed nuclear fusion
research for the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission in the early 1970s, told the
New Scientist magazine on Wednesday he was inspired by 1980s plans for
a Star Wars-style missile shield.

In the mid-1980s he put forward an idea to create a missile shield using
microwave antennae.

``While I worked on the antenna idea...I saw that with so much power, it
might be possible to heat the edge of the jet stream of high-speed winds that
passes right over Alaska, altering its direction,'' Eastlund told the magazine.

He then realized it would take a lot less energy to prevent tornadoes than to
change the direction of the entire jet stream.

``Eastlund found he could make do with a lot less power to quash tornadoes
than he had initially envisaged,'' New Scientist said.

Tornadoes normally start inside thunderstorms where warm, humid air rises
through a layer of colder air. The air cools as it rises so the moisture in it
starts to condense.

The chilled package of air which is heavy with rain then starts to fall and
forms a tornado.

Eastlund thinks the falling cool downdraft of air could be warmed up with
microwaves to prevent a tornado from forming.

The power source for the microwaves could be a network of solar power
satellites equipped with vast solar-panels, Eastlund, whose own house has
been hit twice by tornadoes, said.

Computer Simulation Impressive

Eastlund simulated the effect of microwaves using a computer at the
University of Oklahoma's Center for Analysis and Prediction of Storms and
attained impressive results.

``We got rid of the cold, rainy downdraft. We're not sure why, though. It could
be because the heat from the microwave beam slows the fall rate of the
downdraft by providing buoyancy,'' Eastlund told the New Scientist.

Scientists have voiced safety concerns about the energy beams but
Eastlund said that as long as the microwaves were correctly targeted people
would be unaffected because water vapor would absorb almost all the
microwave energy.

``You need a good idea of where the tornado will go, and be able to control
the beam so that it doesn't hurt people,'' Paul Bryant, a physicist at the U.S.
Federal Emergency Management Agency, said. Eastlund said he did not
claim to have sorted out all the problems with his scheme but hoped it would
encourage people to be more positive about weather modification.

``What I really hope I'm doing now is to put a new direction on the idea of
weather modification. We need to get it to the stage where the idea is not
laughed at,'' he said.

In a typical year the United States is hit by over 1,000 tornadoes. In 24 hours
in May last year more than 70 tornadoes hit Oklahoma and Kansas, killing
46 people, injuring 800 and causing $700 million of damage, New Scientist
said.

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000809/sc/tornadoes_dc_1.html

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Infobeat News items (8/11/00)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2000 08:49:15 -0400

*** Arafat said to nix U.S. refugee plan

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat turned
down an American plan to set up a $30 billion international fund to
resettle refugees, a top Palestinian official said Thursday. Salim
Zanoun, chairman of the PLO Central Council, said the offer came
during last month's summit at the Camp David presidential retreat
outside Washington. He said it was part of American pressure on
Arafat to compromise on the refugee issue. The Palestinians are
demanding that millions of refugees be allowed to return to their
former homes in what is now Israel. Israel is willing to allow a few
thousand Palestinian refugees to be reunited with their families in
Israel. The others would settle in a Palestinian state or in
countries where they now live. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2568819090-9a2

*** Germany wants end to neo-Nazi party

BERLIN (AP) - The government pressed ahead Thursday with efforts to
ban an extreme-right party that has become a magnet for neo-Nazi
skinheads as police questioned one of its youth leaders in the
bombing of a Turkish-owned restaurant. No one was injured in the
early morning blast, which shattered the glass door of a snack bar in
the eastern city of Eisenach. Shortly after the explosion, police
took a 19-year-old into custody after he was spotted near the scene.
Officials said the youth, Patrick Wischke, was considered the prime
suspect, but had denied involvement. Wischke is known to police as
the local leader of the youth wing of the extreme-right National
Democratic Party of Germany. German politicians are considering a ban
on the National Democratic Party of Germany as part of an effort to
stem the surge in neo-Nazi violence. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2568817958-354 ***
Also: Soldier suspended for Nazi Web site, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2568821272-116

*** Arafat arrives in Moscow for talks

MOSCOW (AP) - Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said upon arrival in
Moscow on Thursday that he had high hopes for his talks with Russian
officials on the Middle East peace process. Arafat is traveling the
world seeking support after the failure last month of his Camp David
summit with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. The Palestinians have
vowed to declare an independent state next month, a move that could
spark violence if an agreement is not reached beforehand. Arafat is
expected to ask Russia to play a more active role in the Mideast
peace process. Russia is a co-sponsor of the process, along with the
United States, but has played a mostly low-profile role. Arafat was
to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister
Igor Ivanov on Friday. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2568820970-5b1

** France frees Russian Embassy money

PARIS (AP) - A French appeals court on Thursday lifted a freeze on
Russian Embassy bank accounts after a 3-month legal battle that left
the embassy struggling to pay its bills. Lawyers for the embassy said
the ruling was a victory for the diplomatic world, and embassy staff
said they would now be able to get on with their jobs. The legal
battle, which further strained France's already troubled relations
with Russia, pitted Russian diplomats against a Swiss-based company,
Noga, that said Russia owed it millions of dollars from oil-for-food
deals signed in 1991, the year the Soviet Union dissolved, and 1992.
In May, a court froze the accounts of Russia's embassy, trade
representation and delegation to UNESCO at Noga's request. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2568820920-da9

*** Palestinians eye Barak's party's HQ

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) - Prime Minister Ehud Barak's cash-strapped
Labor party got an offer from an unexpected source - Palestinians
suggested buying its dilapidated headquarters, a party official said
Thursday. The idea was to turn the building into the first
Palestinian embassy after a Palestinian state is established. Labor
party secretary-general Raanan Cohen said it was an offer that could
be refused. He told Israel television's commercial channel that
Palestinians approached him about buying the building, but he has no
plan to get rid of the structure that has been party headquarters for
decades. Barak issued an angry response. Saying he learned of the
offer from the television report, he denounced "the very fact that
(some were) prepared to discuss an idea like this. It is total
folly." See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2568819708-5dc

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - German Army Suspends 'Heil Hitler' Soldier
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2000 08:52:27 -0400

German Army Suspends 'Heil Hitler' Soldier

By Erik Kirschbaum

BERLIN (Reuters) - The German army Thursday suspended a staff sergeant
suspected of setting up a neo-Nazi web site named ``www.heil-hitler.de'' and
barred the 28-year-old from wearing his uniform until an investigation is
completed.

A spokesman for the army said authorities in the eastern town of Schwerin
were investigating the incident. Nazi symbols are outlawed in Germany. The
German army also has firm regulations against using or owning Nazi
paraphernalia.

The army also reported 87 right-wing incidents involving 99 soldiers in the
military in the first seven months of the year. Three involved violence and
the rest were cases of disseminating propaganda or owning outlawed neo-
Nazi
rock music.

That number was down from 135 incidents in the same period in 1999 and
well
below the 319 reported in 1998.

The soldier's suspension capped another day of far-right incidents. In
Magdeburg, police detained a member of the far-right National Democratic
Party (NPD) suspected of being involved in an explosion at a Turkish-owned
kebab snack bar in Eisenach.

Nobody was injured in the blast, which occurred shortly after midnight.
Police said they had detained a man near the crime scene who was carrying
extremist propaganda and who was apparently a leading member of the NPD
youth
wing in the town.

German officials agreed Wednesday to decide by mid-October if there was a
case for banning the NPD after a media outcry that followed a bombing last
month in Duesseldorf, which injured 10 immigrants including six Jews.
Germany has seen a rise in anti-foreigner violence in recent years,
particularly in the depressed formerly communist east.

A leading poll published Thursday showed that about two thirds of German
teenagers do not understand the word Holocaust even though a majority
know
that Auschwitz, Dachau and Treblinka were Nazi concentration camps.

The Emnid research institute asked 350 German teenagers if they knew
what the
word ``Holocaust'' meant and more than 65 percent could not answer the
question.

``The older and more educated the teenagers were the more likely they were
to
be able to give us an answer, but we were surprised by the level of ignorance
about the Holocaust,'' Emnid's Dieter Walz told Reuters.

In the western town of Saarbruecken, police said they were investigating the
author of a letter to a local newspaper in which he questioned how many
people died in the Holocaust.

In Dresden, police ordered a young man to get a haircut after discovering he
had styled his hair into the illegal symbol of the Nazi SS. The 25-year-old
had shaved the back of his head leaving only the letters ``SS'' in the
distinctive jagged script used by the notorious Nazi elite guard.

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000810/wl/germany_racism_dc_2.html

via: End_Times_News@egroups.com

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Real World News - 08/11/00
From: bpr-list@philologos.org
Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2000 09:30:22 -0500

Selected items from:

REAL WORLD NEWS 08/11/2000

Visit Real World News online at http://www.realworldnews.net

ARAFAT URGES IRAN TO HOST ISLAMIC MEETING ON JERUSALEM
Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat yesterday urged Iran to
convene the Organization of the Islamic Conference to help shape the
outlines of a future Palestinian state, especially its capital, which
he wants to establish in east Jerusalem, Palestinian and Iranian
officials said. He also briefed President Mohammed Khatami on the
failed Camp David summit, Palestinian sources from his delegation
said. Bassam Abu Sharif, an adviser to Arafat, called the visit a
"historic event" and a "breakthrough in relations."
http://www.jpost.com/Editions/2000/08/11/News/News.10805.html

WEST NILE VIRUS SPREADING IN NORTHEASTERN U.S.
The West Nile virus has spread to a wider geographical area this
year, with infected birds or mosquitoes identified in four
northeastern states, federal health officials said on Thursday. The
virus can cause potentially fatal brain diseases such as
encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain, or meningitis, an
inflammation of the lining of the brain and spinal cord. The Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said 188 infected birds have
been found this year, including 128 in New York, 54 in New Jersey,
four in Massachusetts and two in Connecticut.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000810/ts/health_westnile_dc_4.html

CLINTON CONFESSES ANEW, ABSOLVES GORE
President Clinton yesterday claimed most Americans "stuck with me"
over Sexgate and urged voters not to punish Al Gore for his own
"terrible mistake." Clinton said he was trying to "be worthy of the
fact that two-thirds of the American people stuck with me." "You
know, that's an incredible thing," Clinton told thousands of
evangelical ministers crowded into a church near Chicago.
http://www.nypostonline.com/news/35200.htm

CIA WARNS OF CHINESE NUCLEAR BUILD-UP
A United States intelligence report says China may expand its nuclear
arsenal by 10 times if Washington goes ahead with its plan to develop
an anti-missile defence system. The report says India and Pakistan
might also follow China's example, and that Russia could resume
placing multiple warheads on missiles - a practice currently outlawed
by the Start-2 disarmament pact.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/asia-pacific/newsid_875000/8756
63.s tm

RETIRING GENERAL SAYS TODAY'S MILITARY IS TOO SMALL
The retiring commander of U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf said the
military has been cut too much and would have trouble mounting
another major operation on the scale of the 1991 Persian Gulf War. "I
think it definitely would be harder," said Marine Corps Gen. Anthony
Zinni, in a Thursday interview with CNN on the eve of his retirement
from the military. Zinni is the latest critical voice in the ongoing
debate on military readiness, which became one focus of the
Republican National Convention.
http://www.cnn.com/2000/US/08/10/military.readiness/index.html

LOUISIANA ISSUES PRO-LIFE LICENSE PLATE
AFA Director for New Orleans, Kathleen Benfield, spearheaded a move
last year to get a specialty pro-life license plate bearing the words
"Choose Life" and depicting a pelican carrying a baby wrapped in a
blanket issued by the state of Louisiana. The bill, which was
sponsored by Rep. Shirley Bowler, received unanimous approval in both
the Louisana House and Senate and was signed into law by Republican
Governor Mike Foster. http://www.afa.net/Pro-Life/benfield.shtml

PUTIN GIVES ARAFAT A WARM BUT CAUTIOUS WELCOME
Russian President Vladimir Putin gave Yasser Arafat a warm welcome
Friday but stopped short of endorsing his plan to declare Palestinian
independence. "You know that Russia's position has always been to
support the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, including
the right to have a state,'' Putin told Arafat after the two men
warmly shook hands for the cameras. Just before reporters were asked
to leave, he added that the process was "very complex.''
http://www.foxnews.com/national/0811/d_rt_0811_10.sml

VANISHING REPTILES PROMPT CONCERN
Scientists say there is evidence that reptiles are undergoing a
decline even more marked than that now affecting amphibians. They say
the plight of some populations and species is critical, and that a
number face extinction. Habitat loss and damage are probably the
largest single problem, but there are many others. And so little is
known about some reptiles that nobody can be certain whether they are
under severe threat.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_871000/871395.stm

NEED A NEW ARM? LOOK NEWT, RESEARCHERS SAY
Humans could grow back lost limbs just like a newt if, as some
researchers believe, cells can be reminded how to regenerate, New
Scientist magazine reported in its latest edition. For the lowly
amphibian, the secret is its ability to get specialized cells to
revert to blank slates that build up a new limb from scratch. Mammals
lost that ability as their superior immune systems and healing
processes evolved. The magazine said scientists were working to set
up a chain of events within mammals to favor regeneration over
healing. http://www.foxnews.com/science/081000/limbs.sml

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Ted Turner Junior to invest in new Beit Shemesh theme park
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2000 12:10:52 -0400

Friday, August 11, 2000

Ted Turner Junior to invest in new Beit Shemesh theme park

By Oded Hermoni
Ha'aretz Correspondent

Ted Turner Junior, son of media magnate and CNN owner Ted Turner, will join
the list of founders for a new tourist park in Beit Shemesh, Park Hashemesh.

Beit Shemesh Mayor Daniel Vaknin met with the Ted Turners, senior and
junior, in Florida two weeks ago, and presented the principles of the park to
them. Vaknin offered the chair of the park's management to Turner the elder
but he declined.

Turner the younger expressed an interest, however, and has made
preliminary inquiries prior to his expected visit to the area in November.

He will then decide on the scope of his investment in the park.

Park Shemesh is the brainchild of the Bet Shemesh Municipality and is
expected to stretch over 160 dunams in Ramat Bet Shemesh.

The theme of the park will be the sun (shemesh is the Hebrew for sun) in
various guises.

There will be a time zone with a sundial, a theological zone, a technology
area, an art site and a solar field covered in glass.

The park will feature a museum which covers the development of solar
energy over the years.

The cost of the park is estimated at $8 million.

http://www3.haaretz.co.il/eng/scripts/article.asp?mador=2&datee=08/11/00&i
d=88817

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - TV show 'Survivor' plans future series around Mir
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2000 12:21:54 -0400

TV show 'Survivor' plans
future series around Mir
MIRCORP NEWS RELEASE
Posted: August 10, 2000

MirCorp has
announced that it has
signed an agreement
with Mark Burnett,
executive producer of
the internationally
known Survivor
television series, for
the creation and
marketing of a TV
program in which the
winner will travel to
Mir.

"Much of America
and international
followers of the Survivor series have been awaiting word on what
Mark will do once the current Survivor program ends," MirCorp,
President Jeffery Manber said. "We are delighted that Mark
Burnett is joining the MirCorp family, and we are extremely
pleased to be working with the best producer in the TV industry
today."

The Holland-based MirCorp was formed to operate as a direct
link between commercial users of Mir and the space station's
Russian operators. Earlier this year, MirCorp funded the world's
first truly commercial manned mission to a space station, during
which two Russian cosmonauts spent 73 days on board Mir to
prepare for the flights to follow.

"Destination Mir" will be a multi-week televised story of the
selection process that the TV program's civilian "guest
cosmonauts" will undergo. Russian space officials will make the
determination of who has "the right stuff."

Mark Burnett said: "Space provides the ultimate adventure. The
fact that we will allow several ordinary people to undergo
cosmonaut training at Star City, Russia, and one will be selected to
actually travel in a Russian spacecraft to Mir is extremely exciting
to me and will make great dramatic television."

"Today, MirCorp brings space travel and exploration within reach
of the ordinary person," said Dr. Chirinjeev Kathuria, director and
a major shareholder in MirCorp. "We expect the television series
that we will develop with Mark Burnett to be the highest rated
program in television history."

Mark Burnett's decision to join forces with MirCorp validates the
media and entertainment value of the Mir space station, according
to MirCorp's Manber. "I am particularly pleased that the media
and entertainment aspects of MirCorp's business model are
coming to life," Manber added. "This interest bodes particularly
well for our Internet initiative and the other ventures we are
pursuing."

MirCorp is a joint venture that is 60% owned by RSC Energia
and 40 percent owned by two well respected Telecom and
Internet Entrepreneurs, Walt Anderson's Gold & Appel and the
Kathuria family. RSC Energia is the one of the world's oldest and
most respected space companies that launched Sputnik, sent the
first man in orbit, built the Mir Space Station, and a lead
contractor for the International Space Station.

"The Russian Space Program has the safest track record in
manned space exploration with no fatalities in over 25 years,"
further commented Dr. Kathuria.

http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0008/10mirsurvivor/

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Arutz-7 News items (8/11/00)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2000 12:49:12 -0400

GOVERNMENT NOT FALLING SO FAST
Likud leader Ariel Sharon has so far failed in his bid to obtain the
signatures of 61 MKs for a no-confidence vote in Prime Minister Ehud
Barak. Those in favor include the MKs of the Likud (19), Shas (17),
National Union-Yisrael Beiteinu (7), NRP (5), United Torah Judaism (5),
Yisrael B'Aliyah (4), and Herut (1), and probably David and Maxime Levy of
Gesher, for a total of 60. The one missing vote continues to be actively
sought among MKs of the Center party, such as Dan Meridor, Yitzchak
Mordechai, or Roni Milo - who was appointed Acting Minister of Health
yesterday by Prime Minister Barak - or among those from Shinui.

IN HEVRON
King David St. in Hevron is closed to Arab traffic again this morning.
The road was closed yesterday by military order, following yet another
assault by Palestinians upon Jewish residents. In the last incident,
Arabs threw a sharp object at a Jewish girl.

Noam Arnon, spokesman for the Hevron Jewish Community, reacted sharply
this morning to an article in yesterday's Ha'aretz blaming Hevron's Jews
for provoking the Arabs to attack them. The article is entitled, "Settler
Violence Against Arabs and Soldiers on the Rise," and reports that the
Jews have a "system" by which they provoke clashes with Arabs by "walking
around Arab neighborhoods and reporting that they were sexually harassed."
The article does not quote Jewish sources, and relies instead on unnamed
"military sources" and Arab accounts. Arnon told Arutz-7's Tzvi Barish
today that the article is "another example of Jewish justification for
anti-Semitism," and a reflection of Ha'aretz's support for the Arab demand
to expel all of Hevron's Jews. Hevron resident Elisheva Federman
similarly rejected the insinuations in Ha'aretz, saying, "The absurdity is
that our girls are afraid to walk around alone, even in Jewish areas, and
so they are forced to walk in large groups. Even then, Arabs stalk them…
Sometimes, the soldiers standing by do nothing to help the girls who are
attacked, forcing our own men to defend them…"

GOV'T ON THE MOVE
The government of Israel is launching a massive information campaign to
brief world leaders on Israel's position regarding the talks with the
Palestinians. Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami, whose shift to the Foreign
Ministry following the resignation of David Levy will take effect next
week, departed today for Turkey, Spain, Italy, the Vatican, and possibly
other countries. Justice Minister Yossi Beilin will meet today with State
Department officials in Washington. The ministers will attempt to
persuade their hosts not to agree to a unilateral Palestinian declaration
of statehood on September 13th, and to work to convince Arafat to soften
his position on Jerusalem. Senior PA figures have dropped hints that a
Palestinian state will not be declared this September.

Meanwhile, it has been reported that permanent-status talks between
Israeli and PA negotiators may resume as early as tomorrow night. United
States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said that another Washington
summit will not be convened "unless we become convinced that the gaps have
narrowed to a point at which they can be bridged. President Clinton does
not have another 14 days to waste..." U.S. envoy Dennis Ross is scheduled
to arrive in Israel within two weeks to meet with Israeli and Palestinian
officials.

NO GO FOR TEMPLE MOUNT FAITHFUL Members of the Temple Mount
Faithful attempted to enter the Temple Mount area yesterday to
commemorate the fast of Tisha B'Av and the destruction of the Holy Temple.
They were rebuffed, however, by local Arabs and the police. In
accordance with Supreme Court rulings, the Jerusalem police had intended
to allow the group to ascend to the Mount. They changed their minds when
a group of protesting Arabs gathered at the location, however, and
thereupon prevented the Jews from entering the compound. Amongst the
Arabs were Knesset Member Ahmed Tibi and Feisal Husseini.

ANTI-SEMITIC REMARKS CONDEMNED
U.S. Republican Presidential nominee George Bush has denounced anti-
Semitic
comments regarding Senator Joseph Lieberman made by Lee Alcorn, head of
the Dallas chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People (NAACP). Alcorn said in a radio interview that he was
"concerned [with] any kind of Jewish candidate," and added, "I think we
need to be very suspicious of any kind of partnerships between the Jews at
that kind of level, because we know that their interest primarily has to
do with, you know, money and these kinds of things." Alcorn later resigned
in defiance, after NAACP President Kweisi Mfume suspended Alcorn's
membership and position in light of his comments, which Mfume termed
repulsive and anti-Semitic. Reform leader Rabbi David Saperstein
responded, "Of course every community has within it individuals who are
purveyors of prejudice. But we must never impute the extremist comments
of the few to an entire community. That is exactly the type of prejudice
that the NAACP and the Jewish community, in fact, work together every day
to eradicate."

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
"Since 1948, Arab leaders have approached the Palestine problem in an
irresponsible manner... They have no plan or approach. They have used
the Palestine people for selfish political purposes. This is ridiculous
and, I could say, criminal."
-- King Hussein of Jordan, January 1960, quoted by Hon. Terence Prittie
and Bernard Dineen in "The Double Exodus"

Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Friday, August 11, 2000 / Av 10, 5760

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========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - NewsScan items (8/11/00)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2000 13:27:38 -0400

AOL PULLS THE PLUG ON MUSIC SEARCH ENGINE Bowing to pressure
from the recording industry, America Online has removed a search engine
used to find music files on its Winamp.com site, which distributes a popular
MP3 player program for Windows. "We don't have an efficient process for
distinguishing between legal and illegal MP3s, so we decided to take it down
until we can address that," says an AOL spokesman. The search engine
was located on a site belonging to Nullsoft, an AOL subsidiary, whose staff
describes themselves as "legitimate nihilistic media terrorists as history will
no doubt canonize us." (AP/Hollywood Reporter 11 Aug 2000)
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/archive/hollywood/current/webwatch/webwa
tch05.asp

FBI AND NTT REACH AGREEMENT ON VERIO PURCHASE
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has negotiated an agreement with
Nippon
Telegraph & Telephone that sets conditions for the Japanese firm's $5.5
billion purchase of U.S. Internet service provider Verio. The agreement
provides a number of safeguards to protect U.S. law-enforcement
investigations, including a ban on Japanese government involvement in
Verio's day-to-day activities (the government still owns a sizeable stake
in NTT). Critics contend that the FBI overstepped its authority in laying
down conditions of the sale: "If there's a lesson learned, it's get the FBI
out of these transactions, because they're extracting concessions that may
be beyond what the law requires," says Albert Gidari, a Seattle lawyer who
specializes in regulatory issues. (Wall Street Journal 11 Aug 2000)
http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB965952625894025409.htm

FRENCH TAKE YAHOO! TO COURT OVER HATE POSTINGS
France, where it is illegal to exhibit anything that incites racism, has
taken legal action against Yahoo! Inc. because its sites have been used for
the sale of Nazi medallions, swastikas, etc. Yahoo has withdrawn customer
postings of such items on its French site, fr.yahoo.com, but says it is not
technically feasible to keep French users off of sites in other countries.
In the U.S., extremist ideas are protected by the First Amendment of the
Constitution, which guarantees the right of freedom of speech. (AP/San Jose
Mercury News 11 Aug 2000)
http://www.sjmercury.com/svtech/news/breaking/merc/docs/077786.htm

RENO WANTS ACADEMIA TO SIGN OFF ON 'CARNIVORE'
Attorney General Janet Reno has asked the Justice Department to select a
U.S. university to do an objective review of the FBI's "Carnivore" e-mail
surveillance system, which scans Internet data packets as they travel to
and from a criminal suspect. Civil liberties groups have been demanding
that they be given all the information needed to understand how the system
operates. They are not happy with Reno's decision. ACLU executive Barry
Steinhardt says a university-conducted review will not be "truly
independent" and adds: "The fox doesn't get to choose who guards the
henhouse." (AP/USA Today 10 Aug 2000)
http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/cti376.htm

ONLINE GAMBLER GOES TO PRISON
A co-owner of an online offshore gambling business based on the Caribbean
island of Antigua has been sentenced to 21 months in a U.S. prison for
violating this country's federal Wire Wager Act, which makes it illegal to
use telephone lines in interstate or foreign commerce to place sports bets.
The prosecutor noted: "An Internet communication is no different than a
telephone call for purpose of liability under the Wire Wager Act."
(Reuters/New York Times 11 Aug 2000)
http://partners.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/08/biztech/articles/11gambling.ht
ml

NewsScan <newsscan@newsscan.com>

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========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - TVGuide Insider items
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2000 13:31:55 -0400

ROSEANNE HEADS FOR ARBITRATION: Her talk show may have died a
slow death, but Roseanne wants to give syndication another try with a
proposed game show that Variety says is a cross between Divorce Court
and Let's Make a Deal. The comedian/actress would act as an arbitrator for
estranged married couples, who will play games to determine how their
assets are split up. Roseanne recently launched the Web site
RoseanneWorld.com.

THE RIGHT WING: The West Wing is moving to the right. The Emmy-
nominated drama - which conservative groups complain has a liberal bias -
has added Marlin Fitzwater, former press secretary to presidents Reagan
and Bush, and one-time Reagan administration speechwriter Peggy Noonan
to its roster of real-life political consultants. They join current Democrat
experts Lawrence O'Donnell, Dee Dee Myers and Patrick H. Caddell. "We
are thrilled to have Peggy and Marlin join the series," said creator and
executive producer Aaron Sorkin. "Their political background and vast
knowledge will be a wonderful complement to our staff."

http://www.tvguide.com

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Michigan brothers plan pyramid tomb for 300,000
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2000 13:46:20 -0400

Michigan brothers plan a
pyramid tomb for 300,000

August 5, 2000, 12:45 PM

                   DETROIT (AP) -- Two brothers say they've seen
                   the future of how human remains are disposed of,
                   and it goes back 4,700 years.

                   Dan and Douglas Dudek envision a pyramid made
                   of high-tech materials and containing room for
                   more than 300,000 burial crypts.

                   The structure would be as high as a 24-story
                   building, with each of its four sides 200 feet wide
                   at the base. It would house crypts 18 inches
                   square and 21 inches high, with separate,
                   snap-together compartments for ashes and
                   memorabilia.

                   "This construction, with the kind of high-impact
                   polymers we have today, should last for millions of
                   years," Dan Dudek, a construction manager from
                   Yale, told the Detroit Free Press for a story
                   Saturday.

                   The Dudeks have received a patent on their
                   design for the high-strength plastic crypts, which
                   they said would defy vandals by locking together
                   tightly and forming the pyramid's actual structure.

                   "The Egyptian pyramids all had access routes and
                   nearly all of them were vandalized," Dan Dudek
                   said. "But once we put our pyramid together,
                   these will be non-retrievable remains. People
                   won't be able to vandalize this unless they take the
                   whole thing apart, starting at the top brick by
                   brick."

                   It's too early to set a price range, the Dudeks said,
                   but an average unit in their pyramid would cost
                   about $3,000. By comparison, niches -- spaces
                   sold to keep ashes in cemeteries and
                   columbariums -- cost between $500 and $20,000
                   nationwide, according to the Cremation
                   Association of North America.

The Dudeks said they started planning the colossal
pyramid two years ago.

                   "My wife and I looked at cemeteries and other
                   options out there, but we didn't like what we
                   saw," Dan Dudek said. "A lot of places talk about
                   perpetual care, but they can go bankrupt over the
                   years. Things can change. We want to build
                   something that's more forever than anything else
                   we've seen. We want to build for the ages."

They also want to build for people roughly their
own age.

                   "We're Baby Boomers," said Douglas Dudek, 48,
                   of Eastpointe, a quality manager for United Parcel
                   Service. "We're a generation that has blazed trails
                   all our lives.

                   "In talking about this idea, I feel a little of that
                   1960s flavor I remember from my youth. Once
                   again, we're trying to blaze a trail in another part
                   of life."

                   Douglas Dudek and his 51-year-old brother
                   recently formed Pyra Development and are raising
                   money for the project. They said they would like
                   to build their first pyramid in the Southwest.

                   "We want a place that's geologically stable so that
                   our pyramid will last 5,000 years, like the
                   Egyptian pyramids," said Dan Dudek. "In keeping
                   with the design, it could be a desert location and I
                   can see it having mountains in the background.
                   We'd like a site in excess of 1,000 acres."

                   If the initial pyramid succeeds, the brothers said
                   they would develop regional pyramids, including
                   one in Michigan.

                   A distant location might be only one of several
                   reasons the pyramid could be a hard sell to
                   bereaved Michigan families, said Robert
                   Vandenbergh, general manager of Kaul Funeral
                   Homes in Macomb County's Clinton Township.

                   "I imagine that in parts of the country, out in
                   California and that way, this idea might be very
                   well accepted," said Vandenbergh, treasurer of
                   the National Funeral Directors Association. "But
                   in Michigan, we have a relatively traditional
                   population." ------

On the Web:

www.pyradevelopment.com

http://www.freepress.com/news/statewire/sw17144_20000805.htm

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========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - 5760 eggs
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2000 17:25:44 -0400

Torah-Forum email list

Date: Sun, 16 Jul 2000
From: Eli Linas <linaseli@mail.netvision.net.il>
Subject: Re: 5760 Eggs

<<Someone said that it takes 5760 eggs to fill a bushel (or some similar
measure). How would this relate to the year 5760 being a full measure?>>

I believe this refers to a comment in the work, Chesed L'Avraham, by Rav
Avraham Azulai, obm, the grandfather of Rav Chaim Dovid Azulai, better
known as the Chida, obm., which is the acronym of his name. He writes that
the year 5760 (this year) is a very propitious time for the coming of the
Mashiach. Briefly, he notes that the minimal volume of a kosher mikvah
(Jewish ritualarium) is 5760 eggs. The purpose of a mikvah is for the
ritual purification of spiritual impurity. He explains that the world is
moving ever closer to a state of purity, and that in the year 5760, the
"world's mikvah" will be filled up and the process of purification will be
complete, and once this happens, the Mashiach will come. Other works that
speak of this year as being particularly propitious for the coming of the
Mashiach include the Yalkut Reuvaini. It is interesting to note that of all
the predicted dates for the coming of the Mashiach that have been projected
over the centuries, there is no date later than 5760 - cain yehi ratson -
so may it be!

Eli Linas

[Jewish year 5760 ends September 29/30, 2000]

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Weekend News Today items (8/11/00)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2000 17:36:55 -0400

PA plans to sever communications links with Israel

                         Weekend News Today
                         Lead: Kelly
                         Source: Middle East Newsline

Fri Aug 11,2000 -- The Palestinian Authority plans to sever its dependency
on phone links with Israel. PA officials said the severance will include
Palestinian dependence on Israeli communications infrastructure in the West
Bank and Gaza Strip. They said this would include a separate area and
country code for these areas. The plan is for a separate Palestinian
communications network to be established when statehood is declared.

EU trying to stop Iran's weapon programs

                         Weekend News Today
                         Lead: Kelly
                         Source: Middle East Newsline

Fri Aug 11,2000 -- The European Union is trying to persuade Iran to disclose
its military programs and abandon plans to produce long-range missiles and
nuclear weapons. The effort has taken place over the last year and quietly
diplomats acknowledge that it has been unsuccessful. The campaign has
been part of the policy of "constructive engagement" with Iran practiced by
the EU. EU officials said much of their efforts have been directed in
convincing Iran to engage in transparency. They have introduced Iranian
officials to European and United Nations standards of arms export controls
and reporting of transactions.

Clinton sees future embassy in Palestinian capital

                         Weekend News Today
                         Lead: Kelly
                         Source: Ha'aretz

Fri Aug 11,2000 -- U.S. President Bill Clinton was quoted by an Arab
newspaper Friday as saying that he hopes to open a U.S. embassy in the
capital of a Palestinian state should Israeli-Palestinian peace talks be
concluded by the end of the year. "My hope is great that the Israeli and
Palestinian sides will have reached [an agreement] by [the end of the year]
and, with our help, an agreement on Jerusalem that meets their needs," he
was quoted as saying in an interview with the London-based Arabic daily al-
Hayat. "Then I will also be able to inaugurate an American embassy in the
capital of the Palestinian state," he said.

http://www.upway.com/cgi/readnews.cgi?day=00_08_11&item=#966014549

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