BPR Mailing List Digest: 08/18/00

Philologos
BPR Mailing List Digest
August 18, 2000

Digest Home | 2000 | August, 2000

To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - ID card firing overturned
From: bpr-list@philologos.org
Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2000 06:07:45 -0500

FRIDAY AUGUST 18 2000
ID card firing overturned
West Virginia Supreme Court refuses school-board appeal on teacher

A teacher fired because he refused to wear an identification card
with a bar code will be back to work at the start of the school year
-- thanks to the West Virginia Supreme Court.

The court refused to hear an appeal by the Randolph County Board of
Education after a lower court ruled that Phil Hudok's civil rights
were violated when he was fired as a science teacher at Elkins High
School. The board was ordered to reinstate Hudok and give him full
back pay and benefits.

Hudok was suspended by the board Jan. 22, 1999, and then fired Feb. 4
for insubordination and willful neglect of duty. He refused to wear a
school ID card and also refused to enforce the wearing of the card by
students at the school. The school said the cards were part of a
safety program to prevent outsiders from coming into the school.

WorldNetDaily previously reported the events which led to Hudok's
dismissal. Hudok said that his religious beliefs prevented him from
wearing the ID because it had a bar code displayed next to his photo.
He said that he believed the card was the "mark of the beast" as
referred to in the Book of Revelation in the Bible.

When Hudok was fired, he filed a grievance through the West Virginia
State Employees and Education Grievance Board. Administrative Law
Judge Lewis Brewer ruled that Hudok was within his rights and ordered
the board to reinstate him, give him full back pay and expunge his
personnel files of any record of the suspension and termination.

The school board immediately filed an appeal with the Randolph County
Circuit Court.

"They weren't ready to accept that," Hudok recounted to
WorldNetDaily. "They did not want me back."

The school board argued that the ID card and bar code must be
enforced because the security of the students outweighed the rights
of Hudok.

Hudok expressed thanks to the Rutherford Institute for providing
legal support in his appeal. The Rutherford Institute is a legal
foundation that fights for religious freedom.

The case then went to a Randolph County Circuit Judge John Henning,
who also ruled in Hudok's favor. The school board then appealed to
the West Virginia State Supreme Court. That court refused to hear the
case.

The school board has abandoned the fight, and Randolph County School
Superintendent Glen Karlen said there would be no further appeals.
Hudok will be back teaching science at Elkins High School Aug. 25.

Changes in the school ID card will be put in place when Hudok
returns. In addition to his religious objections to the ID card,
Hudok told WorldNetDaily that he doesn't believe the card contributes
to the safety of the students.

"The kids are not allowed to take them with them when they leave the
school. That means no one wears a card as they enter the school in
the morning. They don't wear the card until they are in school.
Anyone can get in," Hudok explained. "Where's the security in that?"

The school began using the identification cards in November 1998, and
the stated purpose was to provide security as part of the Safe
Schools Coalition. School officials have not changed their stand
about the use of the cards.

Hudok offered to wear the ID card if he could cover the bar code with
tape. He also told school officials that he could not enforce the
wearing of the ID card by students. He said he his religious beliefs
prevented him from requiring students to do something he believed was
wrong.

Henning's order gave strong support to Hudok's claims. He said his
ruling was based on the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,
which prohibits any laws that restrict the free exercise of religion.

"The court takes no position on the accuracy or inaccuracy of Mr.
Hudok's interpretation of the Bible," Henning said in his decision.
He added that "every citizen is free to interpret the Bible as he/she
wishes and is free to practice a different religion or no religion
whatsoever."

Henning pointed out that some religious beliefs may require employers
to provide special compliances, such as allowing hats or coverings,
foods, liquids, facial hair, dressing, as well as the observance of
special days of religious significance.

Henning also mentioned that federal law requires that employers make
a reasonable effort to accommodate a sincerely held religious belief.
He was critical of the school board for refusing to make a minor
accommodation when Hudok offered to wear the ID card if he could
cover the bar code with tape.

"This is exactly the type of small accommodation that federal law
contemplates," said Henning. He said the school board purposely
decided not to "attempt whatsoever to accommodate Mr. Hudok on his
religious belief."

Henning was also critical of the school board's argument in their
appeal. He said the board argued that the ID cards were necessary for
security in the school, but could not explain how bar codes on the
cards could contribute to security. He said the board ignored its own
witnesses who said the bar code was not for security and was used for
the payment of school meals and for checking out library books.

"Thus Mr. Hudok was fired by the Board of Education for refusing a
Board of Education policy on bar codes that never really existed and
that students were not required to follow; a policy that never
existed, but had a purpose of 'checking out library books' and
'assessing lunch-room charges'; a policy that was not really for
student safety," stated Henning in his decision.

Hudok said he was pleased by Henning's order.

"When many constitutional rights are going out the door, it is a
refreshing decision," Hudok told WorldNetDaily by phone as he
prepared to return to classes.

Hudok also said he is pleased that a new ID card has been designed.
It has bar codes on the back instead of on the front. Hudok, however,
will not have a bar code anywhere on his ID card. He will also be
permitted to instruct students who object to the bar code that they
can cover it with tape if they wish to do so.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_bresnahan/20000818_xnbre_id_card_
fi.shtml

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - "You Can't Pray Here!"
From: bpr-list@philologos.org
Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2000 06:12:46 -0500

Friday, August 18,2000

"You Can't Pray Here!"
Why would the government unleash the Secret Service to prevent a
quiet prayer vigil on a public sidewalk? The answer may surprise you.

By Ken Hulme August 17, 2000

-- WASHINGTON -- "You can´t pray here," said the Secret Service
agents on the sidewalk near the Cuban interest section at the Swiss
Embassy.

Four simple words that have the power to change a nation. According
Patrick Mahoney, head of the Christian Defense Coalition, they are as
significant as the statement "move to the back the bus."

It all began on April 18 when three members of Mahoney´s group came
to the front of the Cuban Diplomatic Mission to pray during the
recent Elian Gonzalez crisis. But Mahoney says the moment they bent
their knees to the sidewalk to pray, the Secret Service began to
bully them.

"We knelt to pray on the public sidewalk. We wanted to pray for
safety and freedom for Elian Gonzalez," said Mahoney in an exclusive
interview with CBN.com. "We wanted to pray for our brothers and
sisters who are in Cuban prisons for expressing their faith. As we
were kneeling, the Secret Service said, ‘You cannot pray here. If you
do not get up and move across the street, you will be arrested.´"

Mahoney said a group of about 20 Cuban Americans had regularly prayed
for weeks in front of the Cuban interest section outside of the Swiss
Embassy. Until this time, when the Secret service moved in.

But why would the Secret Service try to prevent Mahoney´s group from
coming to pray, while allowing other groups to demonstrate and
protest? Mahoney believes it began with an incident several weeks
earlier when they had been praying.

"While we were praying (on the sidewalk in front of the embassy),
Cuban diplomats came outside of the building and beat our people up.
Two went to the hospital!" recalls Mahoney. "The Cuban diplomats were
uncomfortable with us praying for freedom and liberty for the Cuban
people. But the Secret Service, instead of prosecuting them, they
moved us across the street and made us surrender our First Amendment
rights!"

Mahoney was told by the Secret Service that all "protests" were now
banned from in front of the embassy because of the incident involving
his group. But soon Mahoney says he learned that the Secret Service
was not treating all protesters the same.

"[Later] we saw other people on the [same] public sidewalk holding
signs and expressing different views; they were allowed to be there.
We had to leave because we were praying. And quite simply, that´s
discrimination," concluded Mahoney.

That´s when Mahoney contacted The American Center for Law and Justice.

"I immediately assembled a team to handle this case," said Jay
Sekulow, chief counsel for the ACLJ. "I realized that prayer on a
public sidewalk was about to be made a crime. We had 30 years of
Supreme Court precedent on our behalf on this case. Our job was to
convince a federal court judge that we were right and that prayer is
a protected activity on public sidewalks," said Sekulow.

Mahoney was impressed with how swiftly the court took action, once
the ACLJ got involved.

"The ACLJ invited us to their Washington, D.C., offices and we stayed
up the entire night. Early the next day, we were in U.S. District
Federal Court, before a federal judge seeking a temporary restraining
order against the Secret Service. That same night, at 7 p.m., the
courts ruled that we had a right to pray on that public sidewalk,"
said Mahoney.

This is not the first time that the ACLJ has defended Mahoney´s
group…and others like him.

"Think about it," said Mahoney, as we talked on the sidewalk outside
the Swiss Embassy. "Once the government says you can not pray on a
public sidewalk, then a precedent is set. And tomorrow they can come
into your community and they can limit your Christian activity,
passing out literature in your village square, limiting Jesus marches
and other activities that you might have within your community.
That´s why a line in the sand had to be drawn here."

"I'm so thankful for the work of the American Center for Law and
Justice. Amazingly, I was restricted from praying on this public
sidewalk. They went to federal court and the next day, we were out
here praying."

Find out more about the ongoing work of the American Center for Law
and Justice .

http://www.cbn.com/Newsstand/stories/acljcantpray000816.asp?wnd

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - White House Supports Local Gay Law
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2000 08:42:09 -0400

White House Supports Local Gay Law

Aug 16, 2000 6:02 PM

WASHINGTON (AP) - In an unprecedented move, the Clinton administration
is in court supporting a local government's attempt to protect gays from
employment discrimination.

Justice Department lawyers are urging a federal trial judge in Louisville, Ky.,
to reject a challenge to that city's anti-bias ordinance.

The government's friend-of-the-court brief was filed Tuesday. Justice
Department spokeswoman Kara Peterman confirmed that the administration
had not previously filed a pro-gay-rights brief in any similar dispute.

The city enacted the ordinance last year, and Dr. J. Barrett Hyman, a
Louisville physician, quickly sued to have it overturned.

A Southern Baptist, Hyman argues that his religious beliefs prevent him from
hiring gays and therefore the ordinance violates his constitutionally protected
freedom of religion.

If Hyman wins, the Justice Department brief said, ``other employers could
claim that being required to employ individuals of a particular race, sex,
national origin or religion violates their First Amendment rights to free
exercise of religion or free association.''

Others could claim that ``engaging in discriminatory advertising for
employment is protected by the First Amendment,'' the brief contended.

The government brief also says Hyman lacks the legal standing to sue
because he has not actually fired or refused to hire anyone on the basis of
sexual orientation.

Hyman's lawyer, Francis Manion, said the ordinance ``would require him to in
effect support or condone that lifestyle. He believes that requires him to
violate his religious beliefs.''

Manion is with the American Center for Law and Justice, a conservative
advocacy group founded by religious broadcaster Pat Robertson.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing gay-rights groups
in the case, applauded the government's action.

``All federal civil rights laws would be in danger'' if the law cannot be
enforced, said ACLU attorney Leslie Cooper. ``There can be a religious basis
for all sorts of discrimination.''

Manion disagreed, adding that there is a national consensus that
discrimination based on race or gender is wrong. ``There's no such
consensus on this issue,'' he said.

He criticized the Justice Department's decision to get involved. ``I'm kind of
offended quite frankly,'' Manion said. ``Its primary concern ought to be
protecting the religious rights of people in this country.''

Oral arguments in the case are expected to take place sometime after Sept.
14.

http://chblue.com/a/ap.washington/20000816/399b0f5d.1477.5/ap.asp

Link via:
http://www.newsviewtoday.com

From: moza@butterfly.mv.com

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Chicago OKs Ten Commandment Covers
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2000 09:00:44 -0400

Wednesday August 16 4:19 PM ET
Chicago OKs Ten Commandment Covers

By MARTHA IRVINE, Associated Press Writer

CHICAGO (AP) - Chicago public school officials are giving their blessing to
religious groups that are distributing Ten Commandment book covers to
students - as long as the groups stay off school property and give the
material only to children who want it.

``I am enthusiastically supportive,'' Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas
said Wednesday, the day the distributions began outside an elementary
school. ``I view the Ten Commandments as history's value statements.
They're certainly universally accepted.''

Vallas did not attend a news conference to announce the book covers,
instead sending deputy chief of staff Wilfredo DeJesus, an Assembly of God
minister who wore his minister's collar as he passed along word of the
district's ''100 percent support.''

The endorsement has drawn criticism as a violation of the separation of
church and state.

DeJesus and a City Council member conceded that the district is walking a
fine constitutional line but said a recent spate of killings and other crimes
involving young people has left them no choice.

``People talk about separating church and state, but separating these two -
it's not working,'' said Jesse Granato, an alderman whose district includes a
neighborhood where two young people have been killed this summer.

The covers have the Ten Commandments - from ``Only worship the one true
God'' to ``Do not murder'' - on one side and inspirational quotes from such
figures as Oprah Winfrey, Mark Twain and Michael Jordan on the other.

They are being paid for by a TV-based religious group called Total Living
Network, which expects to distribute at least 100,000 covers to churches,
synagogues and community organizations. The cost was not disclosed.

Jerry Rose, president of Total Living Network, said the book covers are
simply ``a personal reminder to students who choose to use it.''

Chicago is not the only place the Ten Commandments have become an
issue in school. Indiana, for example, is in a federal court fight over a
measure allowing schools and other government units to post the Ten
Commandments if they are displayed with other historical documents.

The Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for the
Separation of Church and State, said he has no problem with the distribution
of the book covers, which he said is no different than the Gideons handing
out Bibles off school grounds. But he said the school district should be
``rigidly neutral'' on the book covers.

``It has no business taking a position on whether the Ten Commandments or
any other religious document is good, bad or indifferent,'' Lynn said from his
office in Washington.

Vallas countered: ``That's the problem. Schools have become too rigidly
neutral. What in the world is wrong with `Thou shalt not kill?' or `Thou shalt
not steal?'''

A few blocks away from the news conference, bakery owner Zenaida Lopez
said Vallas should be concentrating on education, not religion.

``That's not going to stop crime or make them better students or people!''
Lopez said after seeing one of the book covers. ``How about this: Give us
better teachers!''

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20000816/us/ten_commandments_1.html

Link via:
http://www.newsviewtoday.com

From: moza@butterfly.mv.com

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Club: barring girl's song 'a mistake'
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2000 09:03:53 -0400

08/15/00

Club: barring girl's song 'a mistake'

By ELAINE ALLEN-EMRICH

North Port Community News Editor

On Friday, the North Port Boys & Girls Club told 8-year-old Samantha
Schultz she couldn't sing "Kum Ba Yah" at a talent show because of its
religious content.

Monday, the Boys & Girls Club of Sarasota County called the incident "a
mistake."

"It's become a national issue," said Roy McBean, board member, who
fielded calls Monday from Los Angeles, Texas and Ohio, as numerous
television and radio reporters called. The story, which appeared in the Sun
Herald on Saturday, crossed the country on news wire services over the
weekend.

"The calls have come in from everywhere. It's not what it seems," McBean
said. "It is not the Boys & Girls Club's policy to stop children from
expressing themselves or their talents. There is no prohibition from children
expressing religious beliefs either. We embrace and encourage diversity at
our clubs."

The Neil Armstrong Elementary School third-grader practiced "Kum Ba Yah"
for a week in preparation of the end-of-the summer Boys & Girls Club talent
show Friday.

Five minutes before the talent show began, Samantha, her mother Pam, and
grandparents Ed and Marie Campi were told she couldn't sing that song
because it was of a religious nature. It had the word "Lord" in it.

The family was told Boys & Girls clubs across the nation are nonsectarian.
Club officials said Friday they did not want to offend any other child's
religious beliefs.

McBean said the club's policy would have allowed Samantha to sing "Kum
Ba Yah," despite what her family was told Friday. There was a
miscommunication problem among the staff, he said. Club officials
apologized to the family and the club has asked Samantha to sing her song
at another club function, he said.

North Port Boys & Girls Club Unit Director Randy Bouck is distraught over
the misunderstanding, McBean said.

"Both Randy and (director of operations) Bill Sadlo are religious men,"
McBean said. "They are very upset. The North Port staff is extremely
dedicated people. We do care about the community. We realized we made a
mistake. I think we should have given this family a little more personalized
attention. This situation is not consistent with his (Bouck's) or the club's
behavior."

McBean said he was asked and he agreed to sing "Kum Ba Yah" for a radio
show.

Samantha's grandfather said he doesn't begrudge the club, however, hopes
next time the club will consider how they handle sensitive issues.

"It was shocking what happened to us Friday," he said. "That was one hell of
a way to treat a youngster."

Ed Campi said he was surprised so many people were interested in his
granddaughter's story.

"I guess this must happen more often then people think," he said. "I think
this has taught people to think before they speak."

http://www.sun-
herald.com/NewsArchive2/081500/NP2.HTM?date=081500&story=NP2.HTM

Link via:
http://www.newsviewtoday.com

From: moza@butterfly.mv.com

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - PA sets up panel on holy sites
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2000 09:11:50 -0400

Friday, August 18, 2000

PA sets up panel on holy sites

By Amira Hass
Ha'aretz Palestinian Affairs Correspondent

The Palestinian Authority yesterday established a committee to protect
Muslim and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem. Serving on the panel are the
Mufti of Jerusalem, Ekrima Sa'id Sabri; the two imams of Al Aqsa Mosque,
Taysir Tamimi and Mohammed Hussein; Archimandrite Atallah Hanna of the
Greek Orthodox Church; and Bishop Munif Yunan of the Roman Catholic
Church.

The committee was established at a conference held at a Ramallah hotel
yesterday to plan ways to mark the August 22 anniversary of an attempt to
set fire to Al Aqsa in 1969.

Also in attendance were the Palestinian Information Minister, Yasser Abbed
Rabbo and Faisal Husseini, who hold the PLO's portfolio on Jerusalem.

http://www3.haaretz.co.il/eng/scripts/article.asp?mador=14&datee=08/18/00&
id=89703

From: moza@butterfly.mv.com

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Farmers suffer as religious squabble
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2000 09:17:06 -0400

[shmitta=Sabbatical year of release when the land lies fallow.]

Friday, August 18, 2000

Farmers suffer as religious squabble

By Alissa Odenheimer
Ha'aretz Correspondent

An argument between Haredi and national religious MKs over how much
should go to compensate farmers for leaving their fields fallow during the
coming shmitta year has so far prevented any farmers from getting money to
cover their losses for not growing on fields planted seven years earlier.

United Torah Judaism MKs say the coalition agreement guarantees farmers
NIS 15 million, to be allocated according to criteria set by the Agriculture
Ministry. MK Moshe Gafny of UTJ said that NIS 6 million was supposed to
go to the Agriculture Ministry this year and NIS 9 million next year.

But at a session of the finance committee called yesterday to authorize the
payments, it turned out that NIS 1.2 million of the money is going to mostly
nationalist religious Gush Katif farmers who use hydroponic methods in
which the plant does not grow in the ground. Gafny said he doesn't mind
those farmers getting the money as long as it isn't taken away from those
who really leave their land fallow.

Farmers lobby chief MK Avshalom Vilan said he and committee chair Eli
Goldschmidt tried to find a compromise between UTJ and National Religious
Party committee members trying to protect their constituents, but failed. UTJ
MKs said they would go to Finance Minister Avraham Shochat on the issue.

http://www3.haaretz.co.il/eng/scripts/article.asp?mador=2&datee=08/18/00&i
d=89654

From: moza@butterfly.mv.com

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Quote
From: bpr-list@philologos.org
Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2000 09:36:21 -0500

"Isn't it ironic that Israel has never had an Orthodox prime minister
and here we may get an Orthodox vice president?"

-- Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

Appeared at the Jerusalem Post
http://www.jpost.com/

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Faithful to the bitter end?
From: bpr-list@philologos.org
Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2000 09:41:37 -0500

Friday, August 18 2000
17 Av 5760

Faithful to the bitter end?
By Michael S. Arnold

(August 18) - Time and again throughout Jewish history, says Gershon
Salomon, foreign powers have occupied Jerusalem and taken over the
Temple Mount, desecrating the Jewish people's holiest site.

First the Babylonians occupied the city, destroying the First Temple
and exiling the inhabitants of Judea. Some 400 years later the Greeks
took control of the rebuilt Jewish temple, desecrating it with pigs
and pagan idols, and sparking the Maccabean revolt that briefly
reasserted Jewish sovereignty in the land.

A few hundred years after that, Roman legions overran Jerusalem,
sacking the city and razing the Second Temple to the ground. Again,
the destruction was a prelude to Jewish exile, this time lasting
2,000 years. In the interim, first Christians and then Moslems built
places of worship above the Holy of Holies -, in Jewish tradition,
the seat of God's presence on earth.

Even in his worst nightmares, Salomon, leader of the Temple Mount
Faithful, never imagined that a sovereign Jewish leadership would
contemplate turning over control of the holy plateau to foreign
control.

Yet that is exactly what Prime Minister Ehud Barak and a small
coterie of secular, left-wing aides proposed at Camp David, Salomon
and other Temple Mount activists say, even if the initiative was
disguised by convoluted proposals and sweetened with an insistence
that any final agreement include the right of Jews to pray on the
mount.

Quoting Scripture, Salomon says that God promised to protect the Jews
so long as they upheld the sanctity of His holy mountain. The
implication, of course, is that by relinquishing sovereignty over the
Temple Mount Israel also would be forfeiting God's protection. The
Palestinians know this, he claims, which is why they insist on
controlling the mount.

By discussing arrangements for Palestinian control of the Temple
Mount, Salomon asserts, Barak is inviting the third exile of the Jews
- and Salomon and his followers are not about to let it happen.

"I don't believe that Jewish life can continue to exist without the
Temple Mount," he says. "The moment such an agreement is signed, I am
sure that tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of Israelis
and Jews from around the world will go to the Temple Mount. We will
force our way in to pray, and we will refuse to move, we will stop
the agreement with our bodies. If necessary, we will give our lives
not to allow [the Temple Mount] to be given to foreigners, not to see
this terrible moment."

AS NEGOTIATIONS with the Palestinian Authority approach their
endgame, and as control of Jerusalem, and especially of the Temple
Mount emerge as the final barriers to a comprehensive agreement,
right-wing activists are stepping up their struggle to prevent
concessions on the mount.

"Everything will stand or fall on this issue," says Moshe Feiglin,
leader of Zo Artzenu and one of the driving forces behind the
demonstrations held each afternoon outside the Old City's Lions'
Gate. "If you give up the Temple Mount of your own free will you give
up your identity - you commit spiritual suicide. There's a large
majority behind us on this issue that doesn't want to disconnect from
the dream of generations. Unfortunately, that majority is being
overcome by a small minority that don't want to be Jews."

Seven activist groups - all but the Temple Mount Faithful, in fact -
recently merged in an umbrella organization called The United
Association of Movements for the Holy Temple, under the direction of
Bar-Ilan University literature professor Hillel Weiss. Trying to
reverse the traditional halachic prohibition on Jews going up to the
Temple Mount - issued to prevent "unclean" Jews from accidentally
stepping into the area of the Holy of Holies - Weiss and others are
collecting signatures of prominent rabbis who say that Jewish prayer
indeed is allowed, and should be encouraged, on most areas of the
Temple Mount.

Activist Yisrael Medad, founder of El Har Hashem - To the Mountain of
the Lord - hopes to organize marches around the walls of the Old City
and prayer gatherings at the Old City's gates. Other groups, such as
the Old City's Temple Institute, have been building replicas of
temple utensils from specifications in the Bible, and publish a
newsletter to alert Jews around the world to what they call the
desecration of the Temple Mount by unsupervised Wakf construction.

According to reports from last month's Camp David summit, Barak
either suggested or accepted American proposals that would offer the
Palestinians unprecedented concessions in Jerusalem, including
control over Arab neighborhoods of the city, unfettered access to
al-Aksa Mosque, and the freedom to fly a Palestinian flag from the
Dome of the Rock.

Other suggestions reportedly included a plan for shared control that
would give the Palestinians sovereignty above ground - that is, for
everything that happens on the Temple Mount - while preserving
Israeli sovereignty below ground, where the ruins of the ancient
temples ostensibly are located.

If such ideas are accepted, Weiss says, it will lead to a crisis of
faith among right-wing and religious Jews.

"It will be like Judas Iscariot all over again," he says. In such a
case, "I believe that many Jews, even hundreds of thousands, will
return their identity cards to the state. I won't feel that I belong
to this state anymore, psychologically and even legally."

Rabbi Chaim Richman, public-affairs director of the Temple Institute,
says concessions on the Temple Mount are likely to lead to bloodshed.

"Giving sovereignty of the holiest place in the Jewish world to the
expressed enemies of the Jewish people, I imagine there would be a
lot of people who wouldn't be able to live with themselves," he says
- though he personally opposes violence, as the prophets said the
Third Temple would come about by peaceful means. "To see the
Palestinian flag flying there would probably lead to violence in
Jewish circles."

Many activists are not bothered by the prospect that their opposition
could scuttle an agreement, possibly leading Israel into another war.

Some, indeed, seem to welcome the possibility, believing that from
the ensuing chaos will emerge a new Israeli leadership not afraid to
take bold steps to assert Jewish control over the Temple Mount - and,
perhaps, even build the prophesied Third Temple, the construction of
which is expected in some circles to usher in the Messianic Age.

Not everyone accepts the activists' apocalyptic vision. In addition
to many left-wing and secular Israelis who couldn't care less about
dividing Jerusalem or giving up the Temple Mount, there is the
steadfast opposition of the Palestinians.

The Temple Mount - or Haram a-Sharif, as the area is known to Moslems
- is "a closed file," Wakf spokesman Adnan Husseini says. "The issue
has been settled by God, and there will be no negotiations.

"Moslems can't discuss it and can't make any compromise. This is the
stance that every Palestinian and Arab and Moslem will adopt,
forever.

"If [the Jews] want to dream of something that was here 3,000 years
ago, then we will dream about the situation before 1948, when there
was no State of Israel."

Citing the Maccabean revolt against the Greeks, however, Salomon says
that the prospect of war is little reason for this generation of Jews
to shirk its divine duty.

"In the moment of crisis, the great revolution will begin," he says
in a telephone interview from Canada, where he is on a speaking tour.
"We are very close to destruction. The dark clouds of war are coming
close.

"Especially if we bring [the Palestinians] into Jerusalem and the
Temple Mount, we shall be attacked, and this time from within the
very heart of our land."

At issue, perhaps, is the very purpose of the Zionist enterprise:
whether the State of Israel exists so that Jews can live in safety
and prosperity like any other nation, or whether it is a vehicle for
accomplishing the Jews' biblical destiny of spreading God's message
to the world and hastening the coming of the Messiah.

"I don't believe that the great redemptional step the God of Israel
started 52 years ago was intended to be just a short episode in
history," Salomon says. "It is the fulfillment of prophecy, part of
the great dream of the God of Israel Himself, to see His nation
redeemed."

THE ROOTS of the current standoff, it would appear, lie in decisions
made by defense minister Moshe Dayan immediately after the Six Day
War. A few days after the message "the Temple Mount is in our hands"
crackled through his earpiece, Dayan met with Moslem leaders at
al-Aksa and promised, to the astonishment of the defeated Arabs, not
to interfere in their administration of the site.

Dayan's motives appear to have been twofold: to demonstrate the Jews'
respect for freedom of religion, and to avoid provoking the immense
Moslem world, thereby immortalizing a conflict that many Jews
believed would end shortly after Israel's decisive victory on the
battlefield.

Yet Dayan set two conditions. Rabble-rousing sermons against the Jews
would be forbidden, he wrote in his autobiography, or "we would of
course take appropriate action."

In addition, Dayan wrote, "the one thing we would introduce was
freedom of Jewish access without limitation or payment. This
compound, as my hosts well knew, was our Temple Mount. Here stood our
Temple during ancient times, and it would be inconceivable for Jews
not to be able freely to visit this holy place now that Jerusalem was
under our rule."

Both of these conditions were quickly abandoned by Israeli
authorities.

Later that summer, after IDF chaplain Rabbi Shlomo Goren led prayers
on the mount during Tisha Be'av, authorities backtracked and
reinstated the previous ban on Jewish worship on the mount.

"It was evident that if we did not prevent Jews from praying in what
was now a mosque compound, matters would get out of hand and lead to
a religious clash," Dayan wrote.

What ensued was a tenuous modus vivendi that lasted for most of the
next three decades. The Wakf was allowed to continue running affairs
on top of the Temple Mount in coordination, to one extent or another,
with Israeli police, while Jews prayed only at the Western Wall at
the mount's base. Jews were allowed to enter the mount like any other
tourists, but "suspicious" individuals - known activists or anyone
who looked like an Orthodox Jew - could enter only under Wakf and
police guard, and were evicted if they appeared to be moving their
lips in prayer.

That arrangement began to unravel with the Palestinian Authority's
quiet takeover of the Wakf from Jordan after the 1994 Oslo
Agreements, and especially after the riots that followed the opening
of a new exit to a Western Wall tourist tunnel in September 1996.

The deterioration has accelerated in the past year, as the Wakf,
aided by Israeli Arab activists from the Islamic Movement, has
flouted Israel's antiquities law and removed tons of artifact-laden
dirt while building a third, subterranean mosque on the mount. Recent
newspaper reports have cited plans to build a fourth, above-ground,
mosque as well.

Fearing a confrontation, the government has refused to stop the
earthworks, but Temple Mount activists see the development as the
logical consequence of decades of timid Israeli policy.

"The Moslems see that they're able to strike at what is supposed to
be the holiest site to us and we don't react," Richman says. "It's
like we put a sign saying 'Shoot Me' on our foreheads. If we show
that we have no self-respect, what do we expect from them?"

IT WAS precisely that loss of "self-respect" that led Salomon and a
group of 15 friends to form the Temple Mount Faithful at the same
time as Dayan was making his historic concessions.

"At that very moment, we felt our nation starting the march back to
exile," Salomon says. "We were living in a moment of redemption but
our leadership missed the opportunities, one after another. Since the
Six Day War, Israel has been led by leadership that is too small to
understand the importance of the times we are living in."

Such rhetoric is commonplace among Temple Mount activists, and offers
clues as to their worldview. Leaders like Barak have misunderstood
the true import of the struggle for the Temple Mount by approaching
it from the standpoint of realpolitik, Feiglin says.

In fact, he says, it is a religious struggle between Islam - aided by
Christianity, which for years has called for the Old City to be
internationalized and lately has called for sovereignty on the Temple
Mount to be left "to God," that is to say, undecided - and Judaism.

And what of al-Aksa mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam, that
currently occupies the mount? Most Temple Mount activists ridicule
the notion that a rebuilt temple will miraculously descend from the
sky in a ball of fire. Yet they accept the equally fatalistic idea
that Christian and Moslem leaders - either recognizing the Jews'
astonishing spiritual purity or their unbendable will - will beg the
Jews to build a Third Temple and put the mount to its intended use.

Salomon, in fact, says that after the coming cataclysm a revitalized
Israeli leadership will dismantle al-Aksa and the Dome of the Rock
and rebuild them brick by brick "in their rightful place" - Mecca -
and that the Moslem world will accept this. The rebuilt Temple, in
this view, will be accepted by the entire world, fulfilling biblical
prophecies that it will be a place of worship not just for the Jews
but for all mankind.

In the meantime, many activists say they will accept a small
synagogue on the periphery of the mount, an idea raised earlier this
month by Haifa Chief Rabbi She'ar Yashuv Cohen. The nation's top
Rabbinical Council postponed discussion of the proposal last week.

Richman sees the idea of a small synagogue as something of an insult.

"It's the old ghetto mentality: Give us this little corner and we
won't get in your way, thank you very much," he says. "There's no
way-station on the road to building the Temple. Even a 50 percent
desecration of God's name is still a desecration of God's name."

Though they question his motives, many activists compliment Barak for
insisting on Jewish access to the Temple Mount in a final peace
agreement. Others, however, say it is cold comfort, like having
someone steal your wife and then allowing you to visit her from time
to time, in Feiglin's words.

Medad does not believe that Arafat will sign an agreement that allows
Jews to pray on the Temple Mount - or, citing the behavior of the
Jordanians when they controlled the Jewish Quarter between 1948 and
1967, that Arafat would honor such clauses even if he did agree.

Still, he says, accepting the synagogue idea is a smart tactical move
- because the expected Palestinian opposition would show the world
that Islam, unlike Judaism, is opposed to sharing holy sites.

"Even [a small synagogue] would be problematic for the Arabs," Medad
says. "But I want to make a statement that we're not out to destroy
[Moslem holy sites]; we want to share. By showing that they're not
willing to do even that, we can show their true face and the nature
of their partnership. It would make my job as a Temple Mount activist
easier to gain more empathy and support."

BEFORE gaining international support, however, Temple Mount activists
will have to shore up their base inside Israel. Even though Arafat
rejected Barak's suggested compromises - Richman compares it to the
biblical story of God hardening Pharaoh's heart - many analysts here
have noted that the government's willingness to discuss a practical
division of Jerusalem sparked little domestic unrest.

Medad, who advocates stressing the national, as opposed to the
religious, import of the site, doesn't find this surprising.

"There has been no mainstream Temple Mount activist group that has
succeeded in talking to the majority of the people, because they have
refused to adopt legitimate messages that could be understood by the
majority of the population," he says. "When they hear people talking
about mikva'ot [ritual baths] and ritual purity, it sounds like
mumbo-jumbo."

Already, Richman says, there has been a dramatic rise in
consciousness about the significance of the Temple Mount over the
last decade, especially since the Wakf's destruction of
archaeological remains over the last year. And Feiglin says the
pressure for a final peace agreement, which may result in a second
summit next month, will also help force the Temple Mount issue onto
the national agenda.

Salomon, too, doesn't think that raising support in the hour of need
will be a problem. Though the majority's silence over the Camp David
proposals is a mark of the low spiritual state to which the nation
has sunk, he says, Jews have a tradition of rising to the occasion.

"This nation at least has one wonderful characteristic," he says.
"When it feels that the knife is lying on its throat, then it awakes."

http://www.jpost.com/Editions/2000/08/17/Features/Features.11053.html

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Weekend News Today items (8/18/00)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2000 19:39:37 -0400

New wildfire evacuations & major power line in path in West

                         Weekend News Today
                         Lead: faith
                         Source: CNN

Fri Aug 18,2000 -- Western wildfires forced new evacuations in Idaho and
Montana and a blaze near Helena, Montana, made a major run overnight,
burning over ranches and threatening a major power line to the Pacific
Northwest. "The sky to the east is just glowing red for miles." The 38,000=
-
acre fire was very close to the power line feeding electricity from
southeastern Montana to Seattle, Washington, 750 miles to the west. In
addition to Idaho and Montana, large wildland fires also were reported in
Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah,
Washington and Wyoming. Nationally, 67,534 wildfires this year have burned=

5,131,227 acres.

In Montana: "It's a big fire." "We don't think anybody's lives are in dang=
er, but
we feel really bad about the homes and people's property." "There have bee=
n
homes and structures burned. We don't know how many -- haven't got a
clue.=94 Montana, with 27 fires, had the most burning acreage in the West.=
In
Idaho: 25 fires raging. One of the Idaho blazes forced the evacuation
Thursday of Atlanta, a small town east of Boise in the Boise National Fore=
st.
"People are just getting out of the way of it," said fire center spokesman=
Tom
Efird. Elsewhere in Idaho, officials on Thursday halted public access to t=
he
Salmon River, affecting thousands of people. In Wyoming: firefighters
continued to struggle with a fire that closed the highway between
Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks. In northern California: a fast=
-
moving fire has burned 1,500 acres in Plumas National Forest. Fire officia=
ls
said rocky terrain and heavy smoke were making fighting the fire difficult=
.

Alert issued for Indonesian Volcano also

                         Weekend News Today
                         Lead: faith
                         Source: Discovery Earth Alert

Fri Aug 18,2000 -- Increased volcanic activity at Mount Kaba Volcano
prompted Indonesian officials to issue alerts on Thursday prohibiting clim=
bing
on the mountain. The volcano has shown a surge in seismic activity since a=

powerful quake rocked the province of Bengkulu in June. Since the
magnitude 7.3 earthquake hit on June 3, all three craters of the 6,472 foo=
t
Mount Kaba in the Rejang district have spewed columns of smoke. One of
the craters, which had been inactive for at least six years, had suddenly
begun to eject smoke, adding that sulfur could be smelled all the way at t=
he
foot of the mountain. He said, "The earthquake was strong enough to disrup=
t
the magma flow inside and push it to the surface." A team of geologists fr=
om
West Java has begun drilling around the craters in an attempt to channel o=
ut
lava, steam and gas and prevent an eruption.

Deadly cholera epidemic hits Laos

                         Weekend News Today
                         Lead: faith
                         Source: Discovery Earth Alert

Fri Aug 18,2000 -- At least 118 people have died in a cholera epidemic tha=
t
has raged through Laos' northern province of Oudomxai. Lao National Radio
reported on Thursday that 1,866 cases of the disease have been reported
since May in the province 170 miles north of Vientiane. Cholera is an easi=
ly
transmitted intestinal bacterial infection that can be deadly if it is not=
quickly
treated. Symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea can cause extreme dehydration,
especially in children and the elderly. The illness is commonly spread
through impure drinking water. Laotian health authorities have initiated a=

program to try to keep the disease from spreading to neighboring provinces=
.

Sixth Quake in two weeks rock Texas

                         Weekend News Today
                         Lead: faith
                         Source: Discovery Earth Alert

Fri Aug 18,2000 -- The sixth earthquake within two weeks hit the Texas
Panhandle city of Amarillo on Wednesday at 8:08 p.m. local time. There
were no injuries or damage reported from the magnitude 3.9 tremor. John
Minsch, a geophysicist with the National Earthquake Center in Golden,
Colorado, reported that there is no explanation for the tremors which bega=
n
on August 2. He said, "All we can say at this point in time, is that this =
is the
largest in a series of minor earthquakes in the area. We certainly wouldn'=
t be
surprised if there are more, but there is no way to say with any certainty=
."

Editor's note: There sure have been a lot of very interesting quakes going=
on
throughout the world in recent years.

Syria, Jordan to build a dam for water and power

                         Weekend News Today
                         Lead: Kelly
                         Source: Ha'aretz

Fri Aug 18,2000 -- Syria and Jordan agreed today to build a dam on the
Yarmouk river, which flows along the western end of their border, a Syrian=

Cabinet Minister said. The two countries also signed several agreements on=

trade and tourism, Syria's Deputy Prime Minister Khaled Raed told reporter=
s
at the end of a two-day meeting of the Joint Jordanian-Syrian Higher
Committee.

Iran pressing militants to attack

                         Weekend News Today
                         Lead: Kelly
                         Source: Jerusalem Post

Fri Aug 18,2000 -- Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh on Friday
accused Iran of encouraging Islamic militants to launch wide-scale attacks=

against Israel. His remarks followed Wednesday's U.S. State Department
warning that there was "an increased possibility of terrorist attacks." Sn=
eh
said Iran has made a strategic decision to encourage militant Palestinian
groups, such as Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, to launch bomb attacks
against Israeli targets. He advised Israelis to keep an eye out for suspic=
ious
packages left in streets.

3 strong quakes and volcano eruption rock Tokyo

                         Weekend News Today
                         Lead: faith
                         Source: AP

Fri Aug 18,2000 -- Three strong earthquakes and a volcanic eruption rocked=

Tokyo and several nearby islands Friday. The first smaller quake of 4.0 wa=
s
just the beginning of the earth's restlessness. That quake was followed by=

two more, the first with a preliminary magnitude of 6.0, centered near an
island chain off Tokyo's coast. A second quake with a magnitude of 4.9 hit=

two hours later. The islands have been rocked recently by daily quakes and=

several eruptions of Mount Oyama, including a relatively large one Friday
afternoon that sent a gray and white plume of smoke and ash billowing
15,000 feet into the sky. On nearby Niijima island, several mudslides were=

reported on roads and in mountain areas. Mount Oyama volcano, one of the
largest of the Izu islands, erupted Friday again. The plume was the larges=
t it
has spewed since its reawakening.

Though Japan is known as one of the world's most seismically active
countries, it has been jolted by an above normal amount of earthquakes and=

the eruptions of three different volcanoes in recent months. The continuin=
g
activity is beginning to fray nerves and is eating into islanders' income.=

Summer tourism and fishing are the main sources of income on most of the
islands.

Japan suicides hit record high

                         Weekend News Today
                         Lead: faith
                         Source: AP

Fri Aug 18,2000 -- Suicides in Japan hit a record high for the second stra=
ight
year, driven up by health problems and the nation's prolonged economic
slump, the government said Friday. 33,048 people killed themselves in Japa=
n
in 1999, up from the previous record of 32,863 suicides in 1998, the Natio=
nal
Police Agency said. About half the total suicides were people suffering fr=
om
health problems, the NPA said. With Japan's prolonged economic slowdown
leaving their economy in its worst slump since WWII, there's been much
corporate restructuring, with many companies cutting workers. Last year,
Japan's unemployment rate reached an all-time high of 4.9 percent.

Japan has one of the world's highest suicide rates. Alongwith that, Japan =
has
the longest average lifespans in the world, which has slightly decreased i=
n
both sexes recently, for the first time. It=92s attributed to the deadly e=
arthquake
of Kobe city in 1995, & to an increase in deaths caused by an outbreak of
influenza-induced pneumonia that swept across Japan the winter of 1999.
They=92ve also had an unusual amount of quakes lately-tens of thousands,
alongwith several volcanoes now acting up, too. They=92re experiencing nat=
ural
disaster after natural disaster, and as reported earlier, Japan=92s people=
are
getting the nervous jitters lately, about what may be coming coming next. =

Mount Bandai Volcano in Japan threatens to explode!

                         Weekend News Today
                         Lead: faith
                         Source: Discovery Earth Alert

Fri Aug 18,2000 -- Aug. 17, 2000 =97 Japanese officials issued a volcanic
advisory on Wednesday, warning that Mount Bandai Volcano in Fukushima
Prefecture, about 130 miles north of Tokyo, may soon erupt for the first t=
ime
in over one hundred years. The country's Meteorological Agency reported
that increased seismic activity near the summit of the rumbling volcano
indicates it may explode. They said, "We cannot deny the possibility of a
small eruption from the mountain." The mountain has had pronounced
seismic activity since April, but on Monday, it began experiencing hundred=
s
of tremors a day. Vulcanologists also said that vapor had spewed 300 feet
from a crater wall on the northern part of mountain on Monday. The plume
was at least five times higher than normal. Officials were closely monitor=
ing
the active volcano. Mount Bandai's last eruption occurred in 1888, killing=
461
people and destroying hundreds of homes.

Six Israeli groups to build water transport projects in Turkey

                         Weekend News Today
                         Lead: Kelly
                         Source: Jerusalem Post

Fri Aug 18,2000 -- Six projects dealing with water transport in southeast
Turkey will be implemented by Israeli groups, the Industry and Trade Minis=
try
said yesterday. After weeks of deliberations, six groups of companies were=

chosen from 30 to be involved in dam and irrigation development projects
costing between $600 million and $800m., in Turkey's Anatolian region.

PA wants Egypt in peace talks

                         Weekend News Today
                         Lead: Kelly
                         Source: Jerusalem Post

Fri Aug 18,2000 -- As U.S. special Middle East envoy Dennis Ross arrived i=
n
the region to explore the feasibility of another Israeli-Palestinian summi=
t,
Palestinian officials called on the U.S. to first coordinate its peacemaki=
ng
efforts with Egypt. According to Palestinian International Cooperation
Minister Nabil Shaath, Egypt is looking for ways to break the deadlock ove=
r
Jerusalem, while safeguarding Palestinian and Arab interests.

China gets Israeli experimental desert farm instead of Phalcon radar syste=
m

                         Weekend News Today
                         Lead: Kelly
                         Source: Jerusalem Post

Fri Aug 18,2000 -- Instead of the Phalcon advanced radar system that China=

coveted and was willing to pay hundreds of millions of dollars for, they w=
ill
get an Israeli experimental desert farm as compensation. Regional
Cooperation Minister Shimon Peres, in China as part of an intense lobbying=

effort to counter Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's attempt t=
o
win world support for a unilateral declaration of statehood, offered the f=
arm as
"goodwill gesture" and an attempt to rebuild ties after the US nixed the h=
ighly
controversial arms deal. The farm is intended for Western China, an arid a=
rea
hit often by drought and hunger.

Conservative Movement to move world headquarters to Jerusalem

                         Weekend News Today
                         Lead: Kelly
                         Source: Jerusalem Post

Fri Aug 18,2000 -- The Conservative Movement is to move its world
headquarters to Jerusalem and use the Israel base to more aggressively
advance itself around the world, according to Rabbi Joe Wernik, who is to
serve as the director of the new office here. Wernik said that the movemen=
t
is also to change its name from the World Council of Synagogues to Masorti=

Olami, although the name change is to be gradual. The dialogue with the
Jews of the world has to be from Israel, he added.

"Our message is that the center for the Jewish world is not New York City,=

but Jerusalem," Wernik said. At the same time, he said, the movement
intends to be more aggressive about expanding throughout the world. Until
now, Conservative Judaism has been very strong in North and South America
and has a well-established framework in Hungary, but it now plans to send
field workers to other parts of Eastern Europe.

Part of this effort involves the setting up of a special program for young=

volunteers who came from the Masorti university-age group, Marom. The
volunteers are to form the nucleus of the Masorti Corps, which is to funct=
ion
something like the American Peace Corps. So far, he noted, there are
volunteers who are to go to Prague, where there is already a Conservative
congregation, as well as to the United Kingdom, which has a number of
congregations, and to Germany. "We have a message for the Jewish world,"
Wernik said.

Hurricane Alberto to set record today

                         Weekend News Today
                         Lead: faith
                         Source: Weather.com

Fri Aug 18,2000 -- Alberto is set to become the longest-lived tropical sto=
rm
on record for month of August. Alberto has been churning since August 4,
when it reached tropical storm status. It will set the August record if it=

maintains winds of at least 39 mph until 5 p.m. today. That may be easy,
since Alberto may soon become a hurricane for the 3rd time since it began.=

It=92s currently still circling off in the Atlantic w/maximum sustained wi=
nds of 65
mph. According to the record, which has been kept for 100 years, 1995's
Hurricane Felix carries the title of the longest-lived August storm, lasti=
ng 14
days. The longest-lived Atlantic storm on record is Hurricane Ginger, whic=
h
maintained tropical storm-force winds for 21 days in September of 1971.

Update: At last check, Alberto has now officially become a hurricane again=
,
yes the 3rd time.

Japan unveils final plans for spy satellites

                         Weekend News Today
                         Lead: faith
                         Source: CNN/ Reuters

Fri Aug 18,2000 -- Japan has revealed final plans for its first set of spy=

satellites, set to be launched by the end of March 2003, Kyodo news agency=

reported Tuesday. They decided to build the 4 intelligence satellites
November 1998, after North Korea test-fired a missile that flew over Japan=
.
Two of the four satellites will carry cameras capable of recognizing objec=
ts
on Earth as small as one yard, while the other two, which use radio waves,=

will be able to map out images of objects through thick cloud cover.

Melanoma Cancer increasing at alarming rate

                         Weekend News Today
                         Lead: faith
                         Source: CNN/ AP

Fri Aug 18,2000 -- NEW YORK (CNN) -- The news that Arizona Senator John
McCain has been diagnosed with melanoma, the most serious form of skin
cancer, brings the grim statistics about the disease into glaring public f=
ocus.
Incidences of the deadly cancer are on the rise. "Melanoma is really
increasing at an alarming rate," said dermatologist Dr. Bruce Katz. "Just =
10
years ago, you had a 1 in 250 chance of developing malignant melanoma;
now it's 1 in 70." Nearly 50,000 cases of melanoma are diagnosed in the
United States each year, according to the American Cancer Society. The
National Cancer Institute estimates melanoma cases have more than
doubled in the past 20 years. Although melanoma accounts for just 4
percent of skin-cancer cases, it causes 79 percent of skin-cancer deaths,
the American Cancer Society said.

Mount Oyama volcano's 7th eruption this month!

                         Weekend News Today
                         Lead: faith
                         Source: Weather.com /AP

Fri Aug 18,2000 -- Mount Oyama, on the Japanese island of Miyakejima,
erupted for the seventh time this month Friday, forcing residents to evacu=
ate.
As the volcano spewed ash and smoke more than 26,000 feet into the air,
the eruption triggered earthquakes on the island, as well as several other=
s in
the Izu chain. More than 2,000 residents were evacuated from Miyakejima,
which lies 113 miles south of Tokyo. The Meteorological Agency warned
people to stay inside to protect them from the possible falling ash and ro=
cks.
Miyakejima and neighboring islands have been struck by tens of thousands
of earthquakes since late June, most of them minor, but over 12,000 felt. =
Two
moderate quakes, measuring 5.7 and 4.9 on the Richter scale, struck the
chain Friday.

http://www.upway.com/cgi/readnews.cgi?day=3D00_08_18&item=3D#966625146

From: moza@butterfly.mv.com

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - World Leader Fact Sheets
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2000 20:01:09 -0400

World Leader Fact Sheets
http://worldnews.about.com/newsissues/worldnews/blxindex.htm

From: moza@butterfly.mv.com

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Old Testament Cult Members Lose Child Custody Rights
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2000 20:08:09 -0400

Old Testament Cult Members Lose Child Custody Rights

ATTLEBORO, MA (CHARISMA) -- Members of an Old Testament-based cult
who have refused to answer questions about the death of their leader's
young son have lost custody rights to their own children. The youngsters
will be put up for adoption by social services workers following the court
decision.

Eight adults have been in jail since last November for refusing to talk
about the death of two children in the group, which home schools, bases
its lifestyle on Old Testament passages and refuses to recognize the
government, reported "The Boston Globe." Investigators have searched for
remains of the two children without success.

Dennis Mingo, who left the group in 1997 and won custody of his five
children this week, told the newspaper: "It began as a harmless Bible
study. But before you knew it, you're caught in a thing that you would
never have imagined in a million years." Mingo's wife, Michelle, remains
part of the group and is one of those being held in contempt.

Juvenile Court Judge Kenneth P. Nasif told the group's leader, Jacques
Robidoux, Wednesday that he was a "false prophet," reported the "Globe."
"I feel very badly for you...and for the people you've led down your
road," he said, quoting from Jeremiah 23: "I am against those who prophesy
false dreams."

Robidoux's son, Samuel, is believed to have died from malnutrition. A
second child is thought to have been stillborn.

http://www.mcjonline.com/news/00b/20000818b.htm

From: moza@butterfly.mv.com

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Rethink by global warming expert
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2000 20:31:45 -0400

Rethink by global warming expert

By Mary Sheridan and Roger Highfield

THE scientist who alerted the world to the consequences of the
greenhouse effect admits today that carbon dioxide from burning fossil
fuels was not the main cause of rapid warming of the Earth in recent
decades.

Dr James Hansen is also more optimistic that global warming can be
prevented "without any economically wrenching actions" because of the
growing realisation that too much emphasis has been placed on the
effects of burning fossil fuels.

Dr Hansen, of Nasa's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York,
told a congressional committee in 1988: "It is time to stop waffling .
. . the greenhouse effect is here."

Today, he argues that warming over the past century was not mostly
driven by carbon dioxide, from burning fossil fuels, but by other
gases, such as methane and chlorofluorocarbons, so it should be "more
practical to slow global warming than is sometimes assumed".

The growth rate of these non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gases has
"declined in the past decade". When combined with measures aimed at
curbing carbon dioxide and soot, this "could lead to a decline in the
rate of global warming, reducing the danger of drastic climate change".

He says in a report in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences:
"We suggest that a strategy to slow global warming focus on reducing
air pollution, especially tropospheric [ground level] ozone, methane
and black carbon particles.

"Human health and ecological costs of these pollutants are counted in
billions of dollars in the United States, and impacts are reaching
devastating levels in the developing world. A strategy focused on
reducing these pollutants, which are not essential to energy
production, should unite interests of developed and developing
nations."

The report adds: "In the long run, fossil fuels will be the issue," so
greater energy efficiency and more reliance on renewables will be
needed.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/et?ac=001800399222797&rtmo=Qxx0x9OR&atmo
=tttttttd
&pg=/et/00/8/15/warm15.html

From: moza@butterfly.mv.com

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