BPR Mailing List Digest: 08/21/00

Philologos
BPR Mailing List Digest
August 21, 2000

Digest Home | 2000 | August, 2000

To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Aug 21, 2000 TV Programs
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Mon, 21 Aug 2000 08:19:55 -0400

8:00 PM Eastern

DISC - ON THE INSIDE - "Mysteries of the Pyramids" -
The structure of the Pyramids has ritualistic and
astrological significance.(CC)(TVG)

9:00

DISC - RIDDLE OF THE DESERT MUMMIES - Caucasian mummies
exhumed from the desert sands of Western China; John
Malkovich narrates.(CC)(TVG)

HIST - THE MOST - "Astounding Structures" - Temple
devoted to rats; Congressional bomb shelter; weird house;
largest pyramid.(CC)(TVG)

10:00

A&E - INVESTIGATIVE REPORTS - "Future War: Silver
Bullets" - Science and technology have a perilous impact on
modern warfare.(CC)

DISC - EGYPT UNCOVERED - "Age of Gold" - Researchers study
the Egyptians' quest and use of gold.(CC)(TVG)

HIST - AIRCRAFT CARRIERS - The history of one of the
most versatile and powerful vessels
afloat.(CC)(TVG)

10:30

PBS - JONAS SALK: PERSONALLY SPEAKING - The physician
develops a vaccine for polio.(CC)(TVG)

From: moza@butterfly.mv.com

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Beilin proposes partnership law instead of civil marriage
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Mon, 21 Aug 2000 08:34:15 -0400

August 21, 2000

Beilin proposes partnership law instead of civil marriage

By Shahar Ilan
Ha'aretz Religious Affairs Correspondent

Justice Minister Yossi Beilin has prepared an alternative plan to a law on civil
marriage - the law of partnership. In Beilin's version, a couple that gives up
the marriage ceremony may be registered as a couple in court. The couple
would not be considered married according to the Halacha and would not be
obligated to seek a divorce at a Rabbinical court if they were to choose to
separate.

Sources at the Chief Rabbinate refused yesterday to officially comment on
the proposal, or on anything having to do with Prime Minister Ehud Barak's
"Civil Revolution." Nonetheless, a senior official at the Rabbinate made it
clear that Beilin's plan is grounds for discussion as long as the option is
intended for those who cannot marry in any other way in the country.

The idea of registering couples was initiated by two academics who
specialize in family law - Dean of The Ramat Gan College Professor Pinchas
Shiffman and lecturer, Shahar Lipshitz.

Lipshitz'z doctoral dissertation deals with contractual agreements between
couples. He explains that the idea is to create the parameters of an
alternative secular partnership that would grant rights and impose obligations
on the partners, but would not be termed a marriage according to the
Halacha.

Lipshitz adds that the intention is for the partnership to be created and
dissolved in court.

While dissolving the partnership would be carried out within liberal
parameters, the process would require at least a year and would also involve
the payment of alimony.

Beilin also raised the issue of national service that would be required of
Haredim at the age of 18. According to Beilin, it is doubtful whether the IDF
would experience a shortage of conscripts because of the stigma that Israeli
society imposes on anyone not serving in the army.

http://www3.haaretz.co.il/eng/scripts/article.asp?mador=14&datee=08/21/00&
id=90012

From: moza@butterfly.mv.com

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - NASA quiet about 76p while governments prepare
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Mon, 21 Aug 2000 08:45:44 -0400

The YOWUSA articles Comet Linear Erupts and La Palma Burns and Do
Comets cause Forest Fires by Marshall Masters raised the possibility that
S4 LINEAR could have erupted and later disintegrated as a result of having
passed through a debris field of Comet 76P. While this is possibility is pure
conjecture at this point, coincidental events here on Earth were much easier
to focus upon.

One set of events in particular was very troubling, and raised the possibility
that one or more man-made forest fires had been set to prevent independent
observation of the S4 LINEAR comet by independent observers. Thus begun
my careful research of public records. The results of my research is as
follows:

NASA is most likely suppressing information about a near-term impact
event.

The United States is preparing for a major catastrophe with hasty land
grabs and secret programs.

Other countries are beginning to do the same.

Full Story:
http://www.yowusa.com/authors/dpuckett/3Q00/nasaquiet/nasaquiet1.html

From: moza@butterfly.mv.com

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - China Stirs Up Trouble Offshore and At Home
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Mon, 21 Aug 2000 09:03:37 -0400

China Stirs Up Trouble Offshore and At Home

NewMax.com
Monday, Aug. 21, 2000

China´s aggressive activities against other nations and its own people
have angered the Japanese, are spurring Taiwan to build a strong missile
defense and are now threatening police state surveillance of domestic
Internet users. Lashing out in all directions, Beijing has recently
attempted to stymie a planned trip by Taiwan´s president Chen Shui-bian
to Central America, sent ships into Japanese waters and raised fears
that China has designs on a group of Japanese islands, rattled its
missile arsenal at Taiwan and stepped up policing of the Internet within
its own borders.

As reported in NewsMax.com on August 4, China warned the United States
not to allow President Chen to make a brief stopover in the U.S. on his
way to visit several Central American nations – a demand the U.S.
ignored. Beijing also put the arm on Central American republics,
pressuring them to prevent Chen from visiting, as reported in our August
14 edition.

Since then, China:

a.. Has risked a $159 million loan from Japan by repeatedly conducting
naval maneuvers in Japanese waters. Japan´s foreign minister, Yohei
Kono, has complained to Beijing about 17 different instances of Chinese
incursions inside his nation´s economic zone. China says the ships are
merely conducting "research." According to Britain´s Financial Times,
China´s naval activities in Japanese waters have increased Japanese
fears that Beijing has imperialistic intentions toward the Senkaku
Islands, southwest of its home islands.

a.. Taiwan is living under the threat of a "saturation" missile attack,
a new report by the island´s military warns, adding that it is essential
that Taiwan build stronger anti-missile defenses, perhaps joining in a
U.S. anti-missile defense system. The 2000 National Defense Report
warned that Chinese missiles are the "most seriously threatening" form
an attack by China could take. "Together with the ground attack cruise
missiles now near completion [China´s missiles] can be employed for
multiple-wave and multi-directional saturation attacks," the report
stated.

Taiwan must meet the threat by building an "area wide shield" of
anti-missile defenses, the report added. Such a defense against missile
attack has been fiercely opposed by Beijing, the Financial Times
reported.

Moreover, any attempt by Taiwan to join in a US "theater missile
defense" system would be the "last straw” in destroying US-China
relations, Beijing has warned.

a.. At home, China has appointed special police agencies in 20 provinces
to supervise the Internet to ensure its political correctness in the
"struggle for international opinion." After the United States and Japan,
China, with 17 million registered Internet users, is the world´s
third-largest user of the Internet and Beijing is moving to rein in the
Web to ensure that its people will adhere to the party line.

"Domestic and foreign enemies are trying their best to use this
battleground to penetrate China," according to the People´s Daily, the
mouthpiece of the Communist Party.

Two "Internet dissidents" have already been jailed for subversive
activities when they published material criticizing the government.
Security police also shut down a Web site, the New Culture Forum, for
spreading "counter-revolutionary information" and are hunting for the
site´s Web host.

http://www.newsmax.com/articles/?a=2000/8/20/155736

via: Third_Watch@egroups.com

From: moza@butterfly.mv.com

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - U.S. helps Russia build better missile
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Mon, 21 Aug 2000 09:05:37 -0400

U.S. helps Russia build better missile

Documents show Clinton permitting
development of anti-radar weapon

By Charles Smith
=A9 2000 WorldNetDaily.com

WorldNetDaily has obtained documents showing that the Clinton
administration is helping Russia to improve a deadly new missile.

According to the newly released documents, obtained from the U.S. Navy
through the Freedom of Information Act, the Clinton administration has an
ongoing contract with Russian-based weapons-maker Zvezda Strella and U.S.
weapons-maker Boeing/Douglas to develop jointly "pre-planned product
improvements (P3I)" for the Kh-31 "Krypton" anti-radar missile. The deadly
Krypton missile is designed to destroy American Patriot and Aegis radar
systems.

"If true, this is worse than Loral or Hughes (security scandals)," comment=
ed a
national security source inside Capitol Hill. "This is not a commercial
satellite venture. The Krypton is a weapon."

MA-31 Krypton missile in flight. Artist's concept obtained from the U.S. N=
avy
through the Freedom of Information Act.

The American improvements to the Russian Krypton, including design and
fuel changes for "extended range," were given directly to the Russian miss=
ile
contractor in a joint U.S./Russian "Foreign Technology Comparison Test"
program. The documents show that since 1995, U.S. and Russian weapons
engineers have worked together on the joint project to test and improve th=
e
advanced Krypton missile for use as a Navy target missile.

"We cannot deny the authenticity of the documents," said Russian Embassy
press officer Mikhail Shugalian from his office in Washington, D.C.
"Otherwise, I can provide no comment."

Last month, WorldNetDaily reported that American defense contractor
Orbital Sciences won the U.S. Navy Supersonic Sea-Skimming Target drone
contract, beating a combined team of Boeing and Russian contractor Zvezda
that offered an "extended-range" Krypton missile. However, the Orbital
Sciences target will not be ready for Navy testing until 2001 or 2002,
resulting in a Navy shortage of target missiles.

To fill the gap, the Clinton administration has an active contract with Ru=
ssia
to provide as many as two hundred more MA-31 Krypton target missiles.
Boeing spokesman Bob Alarotti confirmed that the U.S. Navy deal with
Boeing and Russian contractor Zvezda to supply Krypton target missiles is
continuing. Alarotti also confirmed Russian and U.S. engineers have tested=

the missile.

"We have an active contract with the Navy to supply MA-31 (Krypton) target=
s
from Russia," stated Boeing spokesman Bob Alarotti. "There have been a
whole series of tests done against the missile since the mid-1990s.

"Boeing is not able to comment on any improvements made to the Krypton,"
said Alarotti. "That information will have to be obtained through the U.S.
Navy Department."

According to one Russian source, the Krypton missiles supplied to the U.S.=

Navy are a little more than a "hollow target shell." In 1995, Navy personn=
el
quickly determined that the Russian Krypton target missiles couldn't be us=
ed
to test anti-missile electronic counter-measures. The review document note=
d
that the Russian Kryptons supplied to the U.S. Navy do not include the all=
-
important radar "seeker" and guidance electronics from the weapon version
of the missile.

"Removal of the seeker will preclude use of the MA-31 for testing the
effectiveness of soft-kill EW (electronic warfare) systems and decoys,"
states the 1995 report.

Boeing spokesman Bob Alarotti confirmed for WorldNetDaily that the Russian
Krypton missiles supplied to the U.S. Navy did not include the electronics
and "seeker" head.

"The Russians supply the basic MA-31 Krypton vehicle only," stated Alarott=
i.
"No Russian electronics. No Russian radar seeker."

Despite the allegations of direct assistance to Russia, the U.S. Navy
intends to continue the Russian Krypton target program, and perhaps with
good reason. According to defense analyst Richard Fisher, Russia has sold
the weapon version of the Krypton to China.

Zvezda Krypton missile in front of a Sukhoi strike-bomber. China has
purchased both the Sukhoi aircraft and the Krypton missile.

"China recently signed a deal with Russia to co-produce the extended-range
version of the Krypton," said Jamestown Foundation fellow Richard Fisher.

"The Chinese intend to produce the KR-1, their own version of the Kh-31p
improved Krypton. In addition, the recent sale of Russian Sukhoi SU-30MK
supersonic strike bombers to the Chinese air force also includes Krypton
missiles. We can expect to see the Krypton to proliferate."

According to a July 2000 General Accounting Office report, "unless the Nav=
y
can improve the self-defense capabilities of its surface ships, these ship=
s will
be increasingly vulnerable to cruise missile threats."

"The threat to surface ships from sophisticated anti-ship cruise missiles =
is
increasing," states the General Accounting Office report, titled
"Comprehensive Strategy Needed to Improve Ship Cruise Missile Defense."

"Nearly 70 nations have deployed sea- and land-launched cruise missiles,
and 20 nations have air-launched cruise missiles. Current anti-ship cruise=

missiles are faster, stealthier, and can fly at lower altitudes than the m=
issiles
that hit the U.S.S. Stark in 1987, killing 37 sailors. The next generation=
of
anti-ship cruise missiles -- most of which are now expected to be fielded =
by
2007 -- will be equipped with advanced target seekers and stealthy design.=

These features will make them even more difficult to detect and defeat."

The problem-plagued Navy Krypton project is also dogged by allegations of
improper financial activity. In 1999, Jane's Defense reported that each
Krypton missile purchase included a 28 percent "fee" given directly to
Russian generals. Navy documents obtained using the Freedom of
Information Act show that each MA-31 missile costs $910,000. The
extremely high price for the MA-31 is almost twice the cost of similar U.S=
.
weapons.

The 28 percent fee per-missile amounts to over a quarter million dollars p=
er
missile paid directly to the Russian generals. U.S. Navy managers have
previously denied any knowledge of allegations of corruption regarding
kickbacks in the payments for the Russian missiles.

"We send the money to the Russians," stated Mr. G. Hotze the U.S. Navy
program manager for the MA-31 program in October 1999, "What they do
with it is their business."

According to the documentation, the American program to improve the
Russian Krypton missile was intended to provide the U.S. Navy with a super=
-
sonic target drone. Defense contractor McDonnell Douglas wrote a 1995
document, titled "MA-31 FOREIGN TECHNOLOGY COMPARISON TEST
(FCT) PROGRAM REVIEW HIGHLIGHTS," showing that the Russian missile
needed to be improved.

"The MA-31 target will need (pre-planned product improvements) P3I in orde=
r
to meet the range and ground/surface launch requirements for the
Supersonic Sea-Skimming Target program. The range of the MA-31 target in
its FCT configuration is approximately 15 nm (nautical miles) at low altit=
ude,"
states the review document.

According to the 1995 McDonnell Douglas review, one "extended-range
option" given to the Russian contractor "adds an auxiliary fuel tank, a
reduced-drag nose cone, changes the fuel to JP-10 (which has a higher
specific energy content than the Russian fuel), and modifies the ramjet
nozzle. The extended-range modification is intended to increase range to
approximately 42 nm (nautical miles) at 10m (meter) altitude."

U.S. Navy F-4 Phantom test fires a Zvezda MA-31 Krypton target missile.
The Russian-built AKY-58M Krypton launcher is seen extended underneath
the Navy Phantom.

Another crucial design improvement given to Russia involved "Ground
Jettison Testing" done by the U.S. defense contractor with the Russian
missile. According to the 1995 program review document, the Russian-built
AKY-58M missile launcher for the MA-31 was fatally flawed and could
destroy the airplane, killing the pilot. This flaw was discovered and the
Russian contractor was informed to make specific design changes to the
missile launcher to correct the fatal flaw.

"An anomaly was encountered during testing of the emergency jettison
sequence," states the 1995 review document. "In three emergency jettison
tests, the lanyard stayed with the launch rail instead of with the target.=
In all
cases, the booster would have been armed, and ignition could have occurred=

for any of several reasons. MDAC (McDonnell Douglas) has determined that
use of a longer lanyard and slower separation velocity would allow proper
operation of the emergency jettison sequence. The problem has been turned
over to the Russians for resolution."

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_smith_news/20000821_xnsof_us_help
s_r.shtml

via: Third_Watch@egroups.com

From: moza@butterfly.mv.com

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - SOCIAL UNREST GROWING IN CHINA
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Mon, 21 Aug 2000 09:40:23 -0500

SOCIAL UNREST GROWING IN CHINA: MAC REPORT

    Taipei, Aug. 17 (CNA) Social unrest is growing in mainland
China, the Mainland Affairs Council said in a report released
Wednesday at a regular meeting of the Executive Yuan.
    The report pointed out that the number of public protests and
demonstrations in China reached 110,000 in 1999, a jump of 70 per
cent over the 60,000 registered in 1998. The situation is getting
worse this year, especially in the past one and a half months.
    Economic reforms in the past 20 years in China have made some
people rich, but have also created some factors that are
destabilizing the country, such as the problems of unemployment,
corruption, and the great disparity of wealth between rich and poor
areas of the country.
    The report also said that there is unrest in different strata of
society. For example, practitioners of Falun Gong are still defying
authorities despite widespread government crackdown on the spiritual
sect. The police arrest an average of 40 to 50 practitioners
everyday in recent months, and have detained 35,000 since April,
1999.
    The report warned that social unrest in China is not in the
interest of Taiwan, because the unrest may affect the situation in
the Taiwan Strait.
enditem/eh

http://www.insidechina.com/frames/frames.php3?url=http%3A%2F%2Ffsu4.cna.com.
tw%2Fcgi-bin%2Freadengc.pl%3Fwhich%3D%2FCEPO%2F20000817%2Fcep0817.18

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Ice is melting at the North Pole
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Mon, 21 Aug 2000 12:08:26 -0500

Ice is melting at the North Pole
Mile-wide patch of ocean opens up at the very top of the world, visitors
find

Saturday, August 19, 2000

By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD
THE NEW YORK TIMES
http://seattlep-i.nwsource.com/national/pole19.shtml

The North Pole is melting.

The thick ice that has for ages covered the Arctic Ocean at the pole has
turned to water, recent visitors there reported yesterday. At least for the
time being, an ice-free patch of ocean about a mile wide has opened at the
very top of the world, something that has presumably never before been seen
by human beings and is more evidence that global warming may be real and
already is affecting climate.

The last time scientists can be certain the pole was awash in water was more
than 50 million years ago.

"It was totally unexpected," said Dr. James McCarthy, an oceanographer,
director of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University and the
co-leader of a group working for the United Nations-sponsored
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The panel is studying the
potential environmental and economic consequences of marked climate change.

McCarthy was a lecturer on a tourist cruise in the Arctic aboard a Russian
icebreaker earlier this month. On a similar Arctic cruise six years ago, he
recalled, the icebreaker plowed through an icecap 6 to 9 feet thick at the
North Pole.

This time, ice was generally so thin that sunlight could penetrate and
support concentrations of plankton growing under the ice. McCarthy said the
Russian captain of the icebreaker, who has made the voyage 10 times in
recent years, said he had never before encountered open water at the pole.

Another lecturer, Dr. Malcolm McKenna, a paleontologist at the American
Museum of Natural History in New York, said the ship, the Yamal, crunched
through miles of unusually thin ice and intermittent open water on the
approach from Spitsbergen, Norway, to the pole.

When the ship reached the pole -- which McKenna and his wife, Priscilla,
confirmed with a hand-held Global Positioning System navigation device --
water lapped its bow.

"I don't know if anybody in history ever got to 90 degrees north to be
greeted by water, not ice," McKenna said in an interview. He instantly
snapped pictures to document the phenomenon.

The Yamal eventually had to steam six miles away to find ice thick enough
for the 100 passengers to get out and be able to say they had stood on the
North Pole, or close to it. They saw ivory gulls flying overhead, the first
time ornithologists said they had ever been sighted at the pole.

Over the last century, the average surface temperature of the globe has
risen by about 1 degree Fahrenheit, and the rate of warming has accelerated
in the last quarter century. (That's a significant amount, considering that
the world is only 5 to 9 degrees warmer now than it was in the last ice age,
18,000 to 20,000 years ago.)

Scientists and policy makers are still arguing about whether this is a
natural fluctuation or an effect of industrial society's releasing
heat-trapping gasses into the atmosphere.

"Some folks who pooh-pooh global warming might wake up if shown that even
the pole is beginning to melt at least sometimes, as in the Eocene," McKenna
added.

The Eocene was the geological period when the world's climate grew
significantly warmer. Around 55 million years ago, according to sedimentary
and fossil evidence, tropical vegetation spread inside the Arctic and
Antarctic circles.

Water and jungles dominated the polar environments, and in the generally
warm world, mammals for the first time grew in number, size and diversity.

Previous studies of satellite and submarine observations have seemed to
establish a warming trend in the northern polar region and raise the
possibility of a melting icecap.

Scientists at the Goddard Space Science Institute, a NASA research center in
New York, compared data collected by submarines in the 1950s and '60s with
'90s observations, demonstrating that the ice cover over the entire Arctic
basin has thinned by 45 percent. Satellite images have revealed that the
extent of ice coverage has significantly shrunk in recent years.

McCarthy said that he would report the Yamal's encounter with open polar
water to environmental scientists and consult other scientists to see if new
satellite remote-sensing data have detected the extent of the melting ice.

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Barak pledges 'secular revolution'
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Mon, 21 Aug 2000 12:16:22 -0500

The term "civil society" (see first quote), is used in conjunction with many
UN/Global initiatives,FYI, SHOPHAR

http://www.scmp.com/News/World/Article/FullText_asp_ArticleID-20000821031854912.asp

---------------------------------------
Monday, August 21, 2000

ISRAEL

Barak pledges 'secular revolution'

ABRAHAM RABINOVICH and AGENCIES in Jerusalem

With his attempt to make peace with the Arabs at a cliff-edge stage, Israeli
Prime Minister Ehud Barak decided at the weekend to make war on the Jews -
ultra-orthodox Jews - by declaring his intention to bring about within a
year a secular revolution in Israel.

"We will raise the flag of a civil society," Mr Barak told the ministers of
his One Israel faction he had invited to his home on Saturday night.

The programmes he intends to push through include civil marriage in Israel
(at present only the religious establishment has the right to perform
marriage), the obligation to perform national service (ultra-orthodox youths
are deferred from military service if they study in yeshivas, as - for other
reasons - are members of Israel's million-strong Arab community), abolition
of the Ministry for Religious Affairs, which channels large sums to
religious institutions, new laws to anchor women's rights and the enactment
of a constitution.

Mr Barak told his ministers he would oblige ultra-orthodox schools, which
teach virtually nothing but Talmud, Bible and other Jewish studies, to add
secular subjects to their curriculum if they wish to continue receiving
government subsidies. The subjects he cited were mathematics, English and
civics. Religious Jews often pay no taxes and enjoy state subsidies for
their families. Many do not work, dedicating their lives to the study of the
Torah.

Mr Barak said: "It is time to raise this banner, because we want a
democratic society respecting our traditions. A constitution must be adopted
within a year, because that is the basis of all modern states.

"I am asking all political parties, particularly Likud, to set aside their
partisan interests and support change, including civil marriages, equality
for all, and educational reform which will give the same resources to all
children."

Religious parties immediately denounced Mr Barak's declaration as a brazen
attempt to divide Israeli society. Ariel Sharon, leader of the secular
Likud, the largest opposition party, said it was a desperate attempt to gain
secular support by Mr Barak, who has lost his coalition majority and sees
elections approaching fast.

Mr Sharon's analysis may be correct but his public dismissal of Mr Barak's
"secular revolution" is mitigated by his own ambiguous position. Mr Sharon
has said Mr Barak's programmes must be undertaken "in a serious fashion" and
not as an "election gimmick".

Most political pundits have predicted an election within the next year. Mr
Barak's proposals alienate the religious parties, but they already oppose
him, meaning he has little to lose. Moreover, waving the secular flag may
win him a substantial segment of votes from people who might otherwise vote
for Likud and other right-wing parties.

Former prime minister Shimon Peres reportedly objected to Mr Barak's
strategy at the Saturday night meeting on the grounds that it would
foreclose the possibility of the religious Shas Party returning to the
coalition to give its backing to a possible peace agreement with the
Palestinians. Mr Barak said he hoped to reach an agreement within the coming
weeks.

Israeli analysts speculated that Mr Barak's change of gears could just as
easily be meant to signal to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat that time is
running out on their plans to forge a final peace by September 13. US Middle
East envoy Dennis Ross was in the region during the weekend to examine peace
prospects after the collapse of the 15-day Camp David summit last month. The
talks collapsed primarily over the fate of Jerusalem, which each side claims
for its capital.

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Sun 'sneeze' will blind satellites
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Mon, 21 Aug 2000 12:33:17 -0500

Sun 'sneeze' will blind satellites
By Roger Highfield
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/et?ac=002550734463243&rtmo=V6D3qqMK&atmo=tttttttd
&pg=/et/00/8/17/ecnsun17.html

A SNEEZE of charged gas from the Sun was expected to arrive in the vicinity
of Earth last Saturday, disrupting radio communications, blinding satellites
and causing surges in power grids.

A "coronal mass ejection", a bubble consisting of billions of tons of
searingly hot gas, erupted from the lower solar atmosphere last Wednesday,
according to observations by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (Soho),
a Sun space probe operated by the European Space Agency and Nasa.

The material was predicted to take about three days to reach Earth, followed
by smaller amounts from a second, slower moving bubble of charged gas
discharged from the Sun last Thursday. The International Astronomical Union
meeting in Manchester last week was told by Dr Paal Brekke of ESA about the
Sun's capacity to damage high technology equipment and the efforts of space
scientists to give warning of bad weather.

Dr Brekke described a major outburst seen by Soho on July 14, when a
powerful solar flare triggered an intense radiation storm that destroyed a
Japanese spacecraft, blinded and disoriented several satellites, degraded
the navigation of vessels and caused widespread "trips" in the United States
grid. Although the risk of disruption will not be as great today, a warning
has been issued by America's National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration's space environment centre in Boulder, Colorado.

The Sun is at the peak of its cycle of activity, the solar maximum, placing
Earth at greater risk of bad space weather than at any time in the past 11
years.

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Reports that the U.S. Army had appointed chaplains to witches...
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Mon, 21 Aug 2000 12:50:20 -0500

Reports that the U.S. Army had appointed chaplains to witches

http://www.firstthings.com/ftissues/ft0001/public.html

Reports that the U.S. Army had appointed chaplains to witches (they prefer
Wiccans) turned out not to be true, but the army, along with several courts,
has recognized them as a religion. There are supposed to be somewhere around
fifty thousand adherents of the cult, which has a special appeal to teenage
girls. Congressman Bob Barr is among those who think the army is
overreaching on the tolerance front. Andrew Stuttaford writes in National
Review: "Citing an image of George Washington at prayer, the Congressman
managed to suggest that witchcraft was somehow un-American. He could not be
more wrong. For if ever a religion was tailor-made for a contemporary
America in full flight from the Enlightenment and the Founding Fathers, it
is Wicca." Stuttaford notes that Wicca was invented in the 1950s by a
retired British civil servant, Gerald Gardner, who had a reported interest
in nudism and flagellation. The doctrine, so to speak, patches together bits
and pieces of J. R. R. Tolkien, with practitioners communicating in
Hobbitspeak and going on about the olde worlde magick of Athanes, Stangs,
Runes, Summerland, and scrying-glass. In its American version, Wicca has
taken a fiercely feminist turn, with instant victim status certified by its
very own holocaust, the old European "burning times." Stuttaford expects
that Wiccans will soon be making the standard victim claims about
discrimination, hate crimes, and the need for affirmative action for Wiccans
as "the old witch's cackle is replaced with the litigant's whine." The
military is a special case and it has doubtful competence to make decisions
about what its members say is their religion. An inquiry elicited a long
Department of Defense document that, in circuitous bureaucratese, indicates
that the Wiccans will not be getting chaplains any time soon. For more
general legal purposes, the First Amendment provides little guidance. It
guarantees that the federal government will not establish a national
religion and will not interfere with what the states do about religion.
Aside from a relatively small number of people putting their souls in
peril-a risk freely indulged in various ways by most Americans-I expect the
Wiccans do not warrant a prominent place on our list of things to worry
about. They are prime candidates for one of those little newspaper squibs
ten years from now, under the title "Where are they now?"
Dennis Prager says he is embarrassed, as a Jew and as an American. Since
1853, the baccalaureate service at Duke University, which is associated with
the United Methodist Church, has included giving to each participating
graduate a copy of the Bible, meaning the Old and New Testaments. Last year,
Jewish faculty and students objected, claiming it is offensive to Jewish
students to offer them a book that contains the New Testament. Prager
writes: "To summarize the situation in even simpler terms: Duke Jewish
faculty and students and Jewish institutions at Duke object to Jewish
students participating in a service where Duke offers a gift of a Bible that
contains their own Jewish Bible and also the New Testament; where any
participant is free not to take that Bible; at a service that is entirely
voluntary; in a university that is private and affiliated with the Methodist
Church. One of the best words to describe this attitude is actually a
Hebrew/Yiddish one-chutzpah. Another word might be ingratitude. We American
Jews are probably the most fortunate Jews in Jewish history. We live the
freest, most economically secure lives in Jewish history in a country that
not merely tolerates our religion, but has always honored it. And who made
such a country possible? Men and women, nearly all of whom were Christian,
who regarded Judeo-Christian values as the basis of this society, even as
many of them fell short of these values. In our specific case, it was not
Jews who made Duke University, it was Christians, indeed a specific
Christian church. Instead of being grateful to the tradition that created
their country and their university, some Duke Jewish faculty and students
have decided that they are offended by it." Prager continues: "The Jews of
Duke have undermined the Judeo-Christian and Western cultural foundations of
American culture and of their university. And for what? So that Jewish
students not hold a Bible containing Christian scriptures. How sad.
Apparently, Multiculturalism and Tolerance don't apply to Christians." In
the tradition of clear thinking and firm adherence to principle for which
academic leadership is noted, Duke has responded to the protest by deciding
that Bibles will no longer be handed out but will be stacked in a separate
room where students who are interested in that sort of thing may take one.

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - FIRST THINGS Collection The Millennium Series
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Mon, 21 Aug 2000 12:53:11 -0500

Many links to various online...

http://www.firstthings.com/collections/coll-millennium.html

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Weekend News Today items (8/21/00)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Mon, 21 Aug 2000 18:34:17 -0400

Scientists say tornadoes are getting worse

                         Weekend News Today
                         Lead: faith
                         Source: TLC special & NOAA

Mon Aug 21,2000 -- 1999 was a record breaking tornado season. Scientists
say tornado seasons are getting worse. They explained that 1999 broke
record after record, as it also started unseasonably early that year. In
January alone, they knew something big was already up. Not only did the
number of tornadoes that month break the record, but they more than
TRIPLED the record, with their preliminary count at 169. It was later
determined that the final count of tornadoes for that month was actually
much higher. It ended with 212 for the month of January. Those who lived
through the devastation of the 1999 tornadoes tell stories of astonishing
bravery and miraculous survival. There were so many unusual, surprising,
and record breaking tornadoes over the last 2 years, alongwith the
incredible amount of F3s –F5s. The 1998-year set the ALL-TIME record for
the most tornadoes in a year, with incredible 1424 tornadoes. The 1999
season was close behind, with the final count at 1343.

U.S. intervention to help Dolphin sub test causes Arabs concern

                         Weekend News Today
                         Lead: Kelly
                         Source: Middle East Newsline

Mon Aug 21,2000 -- Arab officials and defense analysts are expressing
concern that Israel's fleet of three Dolphin-class submarines will bolster
the strategic deterrence of the Jewish state. They also said the fleet
will enable Israel to launch long-range attacks against such targets as
Iran, Iraq and Libya. The officials said the United States has helped
Israel in testing the submarines, including persuading Spain to allow the
vessels to travel through its territorial waters on the way to a secret
test in the Indian Ocean. The sources said the submarines contain 24
cruise missiles, which can be tipped with a nuclear warhead. They said the
vessels will be able to strike at targets 1,500 kilometers from Israel.

6.1 quake hits south Atlantic Ocean

                         Weekend News Today
                         Lead: faith
                         Source: USGS

Mon Aug 21,2000 -- Alongwith the above average number of major quakes in
recent months throughout the world, there was a magnitude 6.1 quake in the
south Atlantic Ocean today. There was also a 5.9 in the Kuril Islands area
on the 19th.

Barak's bureau chief quits

                         Weekend News Today
                         Lead: Kelly
                         Source: Jerusalem Post

Mon Aug 21,2000 -- Prime Minister Ehud Barak, who in the last month has
lost both his coalition and his numerical support in the Knesset, today
saw his inner circle disintegrate, as bureau chief and long-time loyalist
Haim Mandel-Shaked quit. Shaked served as Barak's principle gatekeeper,
responsible for the prime minister's schedule and for determining who will
be given access to Barak.

High levels of bacteria close lake's beaches

                         Weekend News Today
                         Lead: faith
                         Source: 'Palladium-Item' IN newspaper

Mon Aug 21,2000 -- High levels of E. coli bacteria have again closed
beaches along Lake Michigan in Porter County. The four beaches in Indiana
Dunes State Park and Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore have been closed 21
times previously this summer due to dangerous levels of E.coli. Officials
said they would reopen them for swimming once bacteria levels fall below
what is considered safe.

Super Typhoon nears Taiwan

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

Mon Aug 21,2000 -- A powerful super typhoon is targeting Taiwan with high
winds and pounding surf. Super Typhoon Bilis was about 375 miles S.E. of
Taiwan late this morning (Eastern Time), moving at about 13 mph. Top
sustained winds were 155 mph. “The system is expected to slowly increase
intensity in the next 24 hours," the Joint Typhoon Warning Center
reported. Its' winds are forecast to reach 165 mph by the time it reaches
Taiwan within 24 to 30 hours. It may also be onshore in southeastern China
early Wednesday (Eastern Time), with top winds of 130 mph. Along with high
winds, the typhoon is expected to bring huge waves to the coast of Taiwan.
As of this morning, maximum wave height was already 26 feet. Along with
the threat from Typhoon Bilis, Taiwan is dealing with a series of
earthquakes. Three moderate tremors shook central Taiwan Monday, just a
day after a series of quakes rattled the same area. Thousands of minor
quakes and aftershocks have hit Taiwan since a 7.6-magnitude quake struck
central Taiwan last September, killing 2,400 people and destroying
thousands of homes. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Fire year 2000 now in the top 5

                         Weekend News Today
                         Lead: faith
                         Source: National Fire News

Mon Aug 21,2000 -- As of August 20th, there were at least 98 large fires
that are currently burning 1,293,768 acres across nine western states,
including Texas and Florida. Some of the large fires received rain,
helping crews with containment efforts. Two more military battalions from
Kentucky and North Carolina have been ordered and should arrive on fires
in Montana around August 25. Gusty winds are forecast today for portions
of Montana, and parts of Wyoming can expect low humidities, winds, and dry
lightning. To date this year, 5,459,245 acres of land have been burned in
68,791 large fires. The ten year average through August 20 is 2,520,963
acres burned in 57,968 fires.

Editor's note: Below are the past record fire years, from the time when
forest fighting had enough ability to actually fight the fires. So the
records we can compare with are the ones charted for us in “Total Fires
and Acres 1960- 1999”. Everyone is waiting to see if we´ll surpass these
standing records with such an early start to this year´s fire season. With
today´s great technological advances, with all the firefighters from here
and other countries, with all the added volunteers in the air and ground
help, that´s the incredible part about how much land has still been burned
this year, with even all that. On that note, it´s surprising it ever got
even close to the old records, as far as we´ve come with technology today.
Now, see the top fire year records below, with fire year and total acres
burned:

1.1988 7,398,889
2.1963 7,120,768
3.1996 6,701,390
4.1969 6,689,081
5.1999 5,661,976 *see update below!
*Aug. 21rst fire news update: For the year, 69,322 fires have burned
5,669,328 acres. The 2000 fire year just jumped into the top 5, as we beat
out last year's season count so far, with still awhile to go this fire
season.

Fires raging out of control in southern France

                         Weekend News Today
                         Lead: faith
                         Source: Reuters

Mon Aug 21,2000 -- Firemen on Sunday were fighting to get control of the
worst forest fires for more than a decade in the Ardeche region of
southern France. Flames ravaged almost 1,700 hectares of mountainous pine
forest after strong winds spread the fire Saturday evening. "We have not
had a fire on this scale in the region since 1987," a spokesman for the
firefighters told France Info radio. Several dozen residents were
temporarily evacuated as almost 1,000 firemen and soldiers struggled to
contain the fire with the help of aircraft that began dousing the blaze
with water early in the morning. "The fire is still not under control.
Nearly 3,000 hectares of pine forest are still under threat," said another
spokesman for the firemen. During the afternoon, smaller fires started in
western France, where houses were evacuated in the Loire Valley. Firemen
were also struggling to put out two fires that have ravaged 500 hectares
of forest around Ajaccio, the capital of the Mediterranean island of
Corsica.

http://www.upway.com/cgi/readnews.cgi?day=00_08_21&item=#966886069

From: moza@butterfly.mv.com

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Hacker threatens 'mass destruction' on web
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Mon, 21 Aug 2000 18:42:36 -0400

Pro-Napster Hacker Warns Against Arrest Threatens 'Mass Destruction' on
Web if Charged
Aug. 18, 2000

By James Gordon Meek

Related Story:
Hacker Defaces Sites in Name of Napster

NEW YORK (APBnews.com) -- The alleged "hacktivist" who may have
defaced as
many as 60 Web sites in the past week with a pro-Napster screed now warns
that fellow hackers will unleash widespread cyberattacks if federal
authorities attempt to collar any suspects.

The hacker goes by the online handle "Pimpshiz" and has posted an e-mail
alias on each site that has been defaced. Someone using that alias
contacted an
APBnews.com reporter and claimed responsibility for the activity.

"I'm sure I'll get arrested," Pimpshiz wrote in an e-mail. "Just be aware
there will be a huge chain-reaction\aftermath when I get arrested."

'Mass destruction' planned

Minutes later another writer, "Ryan," an alleged acquaintance, said in an
e-mail message that Pimpshiz should not face criminal penalties. Property
hasn't been damaged, Ryan wrote, the defacements merely showed how
vulnerable Microsoft operating systems are.

"If the FBI arrests Pimpshiz, hundreds of hackers are on standby to cause
mass destruction," Ryan warned.

No other details of the possible "after-strike" -- such as likely targets or
type of attack -- were offered by either writer.

Conspiracy charges possible

FBI spokeswoman Debra Weierman in Washington said National
Infrastructure
Protection Center investigators are still looking into the rash of Web site
intrusions that allegedly carried Pimpshiz's signature.

She said if the warning by Pimpshiz proved true, and further attacks were
perpetrated as the result of an eventual arrest, then conspiracy charges
could be lumped on top of possible computer fraud and intrusion charges.

The defacements appear to have started as early as Aug. 8, with the hacker
allegedly replacing the index pages of a strange assortment of Web sites
with a rambling message deriding rock band Metallica for filing suit against
online music-sharing system Napster.

The message stated that Napster has been wrongly targeted by copyright
infringement lawsuits that almost shut down the company last month.

Claims to be 11-year-old girl

In e-mail messages to APBnews.com, Pimpshiz claimed to be a "baggy
pants
wearing, rap listening" 11-year-old girl -- unusual, if ever proven true,
since most hackers and crackers engaged in malicious online activity are
teenaged boys.

She is not a Napster user, the hacker repeated, but wanted to speak out
about a perceived injustice.

"I am doing this to show others how I see this matter," Pimpshiz wrote. "I
want people to see my perspective."

Sites picked at random

The hacker wrote that the bizarre choice of victim sites -- which allegedly
included a commercial roofing contractor in Palatine, Ill. -- were picked
randomly. Pimpshiz claimed to have hacked 60 sites.

Four sites operated by King World Productions were temporarily defaced,
said
company webmaster Nick Roller, including the online presence of TV's
Roseanne
Barr Show, The Martin Short Show, Inside Edition and its corporate site.

Pimpshiz said the King World sites were picked because they are
"high-profile."

Attrition.org, a hacker news site, lists other victims as including Honda
U.K., TDK and 800shoes.com.

Exploited Windows bugs

When asked by a reporter how access was gained to secure Web servers
such as
those operated by King World, Pimpshiz replied: "With a vulnerability in IIS 4
and 5.0."

Cybersecurity analyst Elias Levy of SecurityFocus.com said that answer
doesn't reveal much, but it apparently refers to known bugs in Microsoft's
Windows NT Web servers.

"There have been a few IIS vulnerabilities recently, but they mostly deal
with being able to read the source code to Web scripts," he said. "Nothing
that would let you take over the Web site all that easily, unless you found a
problem in the script source code."

Ray Kaplan, a computer security consultant at Guardent Inc. in St. Paul,
Minn., said the defacements appear to be nothing new or original.

"It's the same old penetration," he said. "You figure out what software
people are running, and go find the exploit and take advantage of it."

James Gordon Meek is an APBnews.com editor
(james.meek@apbnews.com).

http://www.apbnews.com/newscenter/breakingnews/2000/08/18/hacker0818_
01.html

via: cyberwar@egroups.com

From: moza@butterfly.mv.com

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - How crackers could crash the Internet
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Mon, 21 Aug 2000 18:44:18 -0400

How crackers could crash the Internet
By NATHAN COCHRANE
Tuesday 22 August 2000

Inside information: The Net is a patchwork knitted together by gentlemen's
agreements, says Excite@Home's Milo Medin.
Picture: PETER BRENNAN
AUSTRALIA is a simultaneous attack away from being cut off from the rest
of the
Internet.

Excite@Home chief technologist Milo Medin says that if crackers and cyber
terrorists properly understood the Net's construction, they would
concentrate on crashing a baker's dozen of file servers instead of
exploiting vulnerabilities in individual websites.

Such an attack would crash the Net and cut-off the rest of the world from
Australian businesses, government and private users.

"You wouldn't even be able to access your homepage," Medin says.

The Internet's achilles heel is its reliance on a domain-name system (DNS)
that uses root servers, the big computers that hold authoritative details of the
world's domains (such as .com, .net, .org).

There are 13 of these root servers at the core of the global network's
infrastructure. This network falls under the auspices of the Internet
Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), an advisory group on
Internet naming policy.

The central or A server, with its master list, is maintained by a US
company, Network Solutions Inc, and is replicated daily to 12 others around
the
world. These servers are housed mostly in the US, at military and educational
sites and NASA, although Japan, Sweden and Britain also have one each.

According to Excite@Home's Medin, a simultaneous, sustained distributed
denial of service (DDoS) attack, such as that executed recently against
high-profile e-commerce sites Yahoo! and Amazon.com, would knock out all
communications.

In the domain name system, when a plain-English Internet address is
entered, an
open-source software program, BIND, converts this to an Internet Protocol
address composed of numbers. These numbers are used to route packets of
data
around the world.

The effects of a DDoS attack would not be immediately obvious, Medin
warns. The
popular sites would stay online slightly longer, as these are often cached.
The
damage would initially be revealed as more obscure sites started to go off the
air.

Ultimately, entire nations, those without their own root servers - such as
Australia - would become invisible to the rest of the online community.

As root servers are geographically widely dispersed, an attack against a
single building would have only a minor impact. But in the lead-up to the
Olympics, Medin does not rule out the possibility of a coordinated terrorist
attack against each of the sites.

"You can hack into the Whitehouse.gov website, but they'll come looking for
you,
or you can attack the root servers, where they won't be looking for you.

"I used to run one at NASA and I could have taken out the Whitehouse and
taken their e-mail. But hackers don't know that because they don't
understand how the network works. People don't understand why things work
in
certain ways."

"The Net is really an illusion" of a single contiguous entity, Medin says,
when it is actually a patchwork of networks knitted together by gentlemen's
agreements.

"You don't see the seams until things break down," he says. "But the
illusion works pretty well most of the time. It's testimony to the founding
fathers that the illusion is better now than it used to be."

In July 1997, a power outage at the primary root server caused data to be
corrupted, severely affecting the Net's operation. A week earlier, the US
Government's Department of Commerce commissioned a discussion paper
about
the system's impending privatisation. "... The stability of the Internet
should be the first priority of any DNS management system", it later found.

"Security and reliability of the DNS are important aspects of stability and, as
a new DNS management system is introduced, a comprehensive security
strategy
should be developed."

In a request for comment (RFC2870) last June, the Internet Society said the
"correct, safe, reliable, and secure operation of the Internet", was a prime
concern as more activities were transacted.

"The root domain-name servers are seen as a crucial part of that technical
infrastructure," the society said.

"We are confident that the, presumably temporary, loss of most of the root
servers, should not significantly affect operation of the Internet."

It said the same physical and protocol security applied by a corporate or
government datacentre needs to be applied.

"... The specific area in which the root server is located MUST have
positive access control, i.e. the number of individuals permitted access to the
area MUST be limited, controlled, and recorded."

So concerned is the society that the RFC demands redundant power
backups in case
of a coordinated attack against the power grids of cities that house root-server
datacentres.

It also requires that capacity be at least three times the peak demand and
to limit requests from outside zones, as a bulwark against DDoS attacks.

It advises that all intrusions be logged and these details shared with
authorities in other countries, to identify patterns that may indicate a
coordinated, concerted attack.

An Australia Computer Emergency Response Team (AusCERT) spokesman,
Eric
Halil, says any attack against the root servers would have a "significant"
impact.

He says it would be a good idea if Australia lobbied for its own root
server, to provide a better spread of assets globally.

"If you were able to disrupt the root servers at the same time, you
certainly could affect the way the Net operates."

Halil says any attack would need to be coordinated within hours and
sustained over days for maximum disruption, but redundant systems would
make
this difficult. Recovery time could stretch into days or weeks, leading to
worldwide disruption of services.

Halil says the greater interconnection of networks meant any disruption
would have unforseen consequences to a range of services. Coordination of
counter-measures and security agencies' tracing of perpetrators could also
be hampered as communications are affected.

http://www.it.fairfax.com.au/industry/20000822/A17853-2000Aug21.html

via: cyberwar@egroups.com

From: moza@butterfly.mv.com

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Arutz-7 News items (8/20/00)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Mon, 21 Aug 2000 18:49:25 -0400

BARAK PROMISES CONSTITUTION WITHIN ONE YEAR
The Prime Minister's proposal to legislate a Constitution into law within
one year has successfully, if temporarily, diverted public attention away
from his troubles with the Palestinians as well as the crisis in which his
coalition finds itself. Voice of Israel Radio political commentator Yaron Dekel
said today, "Sure, we'll talk about it [his new proposals] today, and probably
tomorrow, but that will be the end of it." Other ideas proposed by Barak in
what some have called his "secular revolution" include the abolishment of the
Religious Affairs Ministry, a civil marriage law, and a obligatory
national-service law. Barak announced his plan at a meeting last night with
government ministers.

Although political commentators say that Barak does not have a majority in
the Knesset for such a proposal - "He couldn't even pass a Gardening Law
today,"said Dekel - public reactions have been both intense and numerous. The
Likud says that the idea is merely an election ploy. "Ehud Barak does not want a
Constitution at all," said Likud faction head MK Ruby Rivlin, "but simply
wishes to drive a wedge between the religious parties [which have been traditionally
against a Constitution] and the Likud."

Other reactions
* Yisrael Beiteinu head MK Avigdor Lieberman: "It will tear the nation
apart. Barak is frantic because of his standing in the polls, and is
trying to save his skin... However, if the proposal reaches the Knesset, we
will vote on it according to its merits." * Shinui head MK Tommy Lapid
congratulated Barak on the initiative, but expressed pessimism that it would pass in the
Knesset. * NRP head Rabbi Yitzchak Levy: "Barak is attempting to
improvise a pseudo-revolution... He is shooting in all directions, and is undermining the
foundations of the society." * United Torah Judaism head MK Meir Porush:
"Moshe Gaon, Barak's public relations advisor, should be the one running for Prime
Minister, not Barak..."

Political scientist Dr. Asher Cohen of Bar Ilan University was asked today
whether he sees a linkage between Barak's political problems and his
Constitution declaration. "I was very surprised to see that the papers and
electronic media this morning did not make this connection, but to me, it
seems obvious," said Cohen. "This is exactly what Shimon Batat [who
resigned last week from the Prime Minister's Office] pointed out - that as
long as information is flowing to the media, then all is well as far as Barak is
concerned... It appears that Barak has concluded that Shas will not rejoin
the government, and so he is introducing other issues with the hope of
attracting a new coalition, this time without Shas. Each issue that Barak is
now raising, though, is a major one in and of itself: the issue of a constitution
has been debated over the past 50 years, and the closing down of the
Ministry of Religious Affairs, and the decision to work towards 'national
service' for every citizen, have also been long debated... "

HEVRON ARABS ATTACK JEWS
The Hevron Jewish Community published today a list of 17 Arab assaults and
provocations upon Jewish targets that have taken place in Hevron over the
past six and a half weeks. The list, which its compilers state does not include
"dozens of cases of sexual assault and harassment," includes many cases
of throwing rocks, bottles, and metal objects, as well as a firebombing, an
infiltration, attempted run-downs, and cases of massive shooting in the air.

Violence erupted in the city yesterday, after two Jewish women were injured
in slingshot attacks and a Jewish boy's foot was run over by an Arab taxi.
Jewish residents then filled the street across from the Avraham Avinu neighborhood,
demanding that the Arab stores and market be closed, and that the road
where the attacks occurred be closed to Arab traffic. Several Jews accused of
overturning Arab fruit stands were arrested for a short time during the demonstration,
while the detention of another Jewish resident was prevented when several women
and children lay down under the police car and would not allow it to take him
away. Arabs rolled three burning tires down a hill into the middle of a Jewish
neighborhood; Israeli security forces extinguished the flames. An emergency
meeting between senior army officers and leaders of the Hevron Jewish
community was scheduled to take place today.

Hevron spokesman David Wilder later released this statement: "Exactly 71
years ago today, 67 Jews were brutally murdered in cold blood in Hebron.
The British police forces, composed of a British officer and mostly Arab
police, did absolutely nothing to stop the attacks... [Now] Jews are still
being attacked by Arabs in Hebron... It is inconceivable that Arabs continue
to attack Jews under the noses of Israeli security forces, without any viable
reaction by the police or army... The Jewish community of Hebron was
decimated in 1929 because it had no protection. Today, 52 years after the
emergence of the State of Israel, it is incumbent on the IDF and Israeli police
to ensure that the events of 1929 are not repeated... We will not allow
Hebron's Arabs to fulfill Amin el Husseini's dream of a Judenrein Hebron. In
1967, when we returned to Hebron, we returned home. We have no intentions
of ever leaving and we have no intentions of letting Arab violence chase us
out of our homes. We are here to stay. Our very presence in Hebron is an
eternal memorial to those 67 Jews whose blood was so horribly spilled here
in 1929."

BARAK WAITING FOR ANSWER ON OBSOLETE CONCESSIONS
Prime Minister Barak says he is still waiting for the response of the
Palestinians on the concessions he offered them at Camp David. At today's
weekly Cabinet meeting today, Barak said, "We are in a waiting period,
since we have yet to hear from them about an openness and willingness to discuss the
ideas which were raised at Camp David, especially those regarding
Jerusalem. The limited amount of time is well-known, and in the coming weeks we will
know whether Arafat is set on an agreement or an impasse." Arutz-7's Ron Meir
notes that this conflicts with the speech Barak made to sum up the end of the
Camp David summit. Barak declared then that all the concessions he made there
were "null and void," and that future negotiations will not begin where the Camp
David summit left off.

American mediator Dennis Ross arrived in Israel last week - four days
earlier than planned, by special order of U.S. President Clinton. He has
met so far with Acting Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami, with Palestinian
negotiators, and with Prime Minister Ehud Barak. His meeting with Yasser
Arafat that was planned for today, however, may be pushed off until tomorrow.

Arafat has said that he will not agree to declare the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict "ended" until after the Jerusalem issue is resolved. The
announcement was a disappointment to those who had hoped that the other
remaining issues could be resolved while leaving Jerusalem for a later date.

NRP vs. GOVERNMENT
The National Religious Party petitioned the Supreme Court today against the
"caretaker" government of Ehud Barak. The party demands that the Prime
Minister be required to present his "new" government to the Knesset, as is
done when a new government is formed, in light of the many new ministers
and acting ministers that he has recently appointed, and in light of the
changes that have occurred in the government's guidelines.

Arutz Sheva News Service
<www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Sunday, August 20, 2000 / Av 19, 5760

From: moza@butterfly.mv.com

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - C-SPAN (8/21/00)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Mon, 21 Aug 2000 18:52:55 -0400

[These come to my mailbox around 7 pm each night but I'm going to send
them out anyway if I see something interesting. Maybe they repeat during
the night?--Moza]

C-SPAN PROGRAMMING HIGHLIGHTS
(All Times are Eastern)

TONIGHT, August 21, 2000

8:00 -- Role of the White House Chief of Staff
9:30 -- Transportation Department Briefing on Aviation with Sec. Slater
10:00 -- NTV- Russian News on Kursk Submarine
10:30 -- Briefing on President Clinton's Upcoming Trip to Nigeria

On C-SPAN2:
8:00 -- Challenge for Investigative Reporting
9:30 -- Alliance for Justice - Teen's Attitudes Toward Guns
10:10 -- Center for Policy Analysis
11:10 -- Briefing on the Future of Middle
East Peace with Amb. Dennis Ross

From: moza@butterfly.mv.com

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Love Bizarre
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Mon, 21 Aug 2000 18:55:27 -0400

LOVE BIZARRE: NBC is making good on its threat to bring the European
reality series Chains of Love to American TV. The network has committed to
16 episodes of the "relationship" show, in which four contestants are
handcuffed to a member of the opposite sex for five days. Every 24 hours,
one member of the quartet is released until the "dream date" is left. In
addition, NBC has ordered a pilot of Sweet Revenge, another reality show in
which "the perfect payback" is caught on
tape.

via: TVGuide@LISTSERV.TVGUIDE.COM

From: moza@butterfly.mv.com

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

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