BPR Mailing List Digest: 08/24/00

Philologos
BPR Mailing List Digest
August 24, 2000

Digest Home | 2000 | August, 2000

To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Priscillas asked to close the Games
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 08:35:14 -0400

Priscillas asked to close the Games

By JULIA BAIRD

Published: Wednesday, August 23, 2000

A group of Sydney's most glamorous drag queens will frock up in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert outfits to take a starring role in the Olympic closing ceremony.

They will perform on a float which is a "tribute to drag", featuring as part of a celebration of Australian culture.

At a meeting attended by SOCOG representatives at the end of last month, almost 200 drag queens were asked if they would take part in the ceremony.

Last night SOCOG refused to discuss details of the ceremony, but sources in the Olympic movement and gay community confirmed the show will go on.

Rumours are now roaring through the community about who is in, who is out, and who is creating whose outfit.

Bitchy comments about who will have the most expensive costume and how some allegedly unreliable drag queens have missed out are also flying about.

One source in the drag community said the costumes, featuring frill-necked lizards, fruit-laden head-wear and high-glam frocks, were a "straight rip-off" from the hugely successful film Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, starring Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce and Terence Stamp.

All the SOCOG drag queens have been asked to sign confidentiality agreements, and were tight-lipped yesterday.

Local drag identity Verushka Darling said she was bemused by the rumours. "I haven't heard anything about it and I am one of the key figures in the drag world, so you would think I would know," she said.

Staff at the Albury Hotel, where drag shows are held throughout the week, said they had been "really heavied" by SOCOG not to say anything to the press and "drag queens performing at ceremonies" would not be able to talk to any media.

The drag queens doing their make-up in the back rooms of the Albury refused to comment.

One local figure said the community was worried if the mainstream media picked it up, there would be a conservative backlash which would lead to the cancellation of the drag performance.

It is believed the number selected for the ceremony, which will be overseen by David Atkins, the artistic director of ceremonies, will be reduced to 40.

But there are hopes that a group of "muscle marys" - or well toned men - may perform alongside them.

SOCOG advertised for models in the gay press some months ago.

A SOCOG spokesman said "we don't want to refer to any details of the opening or closing ceremony. We don't want to spoil the surprise for those who will be there".

http://www.smh.com.au/olympics/news/20000823/A21654-2000Aug22.html

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

From: moza@butterfly.mv.com

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Edupage items (8/23/00)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 08:39:36 -0400

PORTABLE TECHNOLOGY STEPS INTO ELECTRONICS YOU CAN WEAR
Levi Strauss and Phillips next month will introduce the ICD+, a
jacket that features a built-in cell phone, MP3 player, and
headset. The jacket, which will retail for $900 at exclusive
European boutiques, also includes remote and voice-activated
controls. Woven into the ICD+ are an electronic circuit and
approximately four feet of wires, which together establish a
personal area network, or PAN, to conduct data and power
throughout the jacket. The electronic components weigh only five
ounces. Although Levi Strauss and Phillips are aiming this early
model at young people and those who must have the latest trends,
they believe interactive clothing will soon find a place in every
wardrobe. Several other companies are working on similar
technology. Motorola and Swatch are teaming on a wristwatch cell
phone, while Nike is designing clothes equipped with MP3 players.
Tech labs have built concept clothes such as a solar-powered
T-shirt. Levi Strauss is already envisioning the next generation
of wearable electronics. The company wants the devices in its
next line of clothes to be wireless. (Wall Street Journal, 22 Aug 2000)

FLORIDA'S LEAPS AND BOUNDS INTO ONLINE EDUCATION
Parents, teachers, and school administrators across the United
States are watching Polk County, Fl.'s Daniel Jenkins Academy,
the nation's first school to offer a completely online curriculum
in a classroom. There will be no classroom teachers at Daniel
Jenkins Academy, although there will be counselors, school
facilitators, and resource teachers on hand to guide students,
and the online teachers will visit students periodically. "The
whole idea is customizing education and services for students,"
says Carolyn Baldwin, area superintendent. "No one wants a
one-size-fits-all curriculum anymore. We need to be examining
what a child's needs are and designing education to meet those
needs," which can be accomplished much more easily with an online
school. Daniel Jenkins Academy will admit 250 students in middle
and high school levels. The learning environment will be paced
flexibly, with students having a larger input into when and what
they learn. High school seniors will gain the opportunity to
obtain networking certification from the Cisco Academy. Provided
that funding can be arranged, student enrollment will be raised
to 500 to 600 students by 2004. (Government Technology, Aug 2000)

MICROSOFT TO UNVEIL A CHIP FOR NET, TV
Microsoft this fall will introduce Solo2, a chip designed to be
the backbone of its WebTV service. The chip will power Ultimate
TV, which allows WebTV users to access the Internet while
watching as many as two television programs. Solo2 represents a
significant departure for Microsoft, which has traditionally
focused on software while letting Intel dominate the chip market,
an arrangement often known as Wintel. However, Microsoft decided
to engineer its own chip when it could not find what it needed
from its usual vendors. Analysts have mixed feelings about the
potential of television-based Internet access, noting that WebTV
has positioned itself as the industry leader by being first but
could face stiff competition from AOL's forthcoming AOL TV.
However, Microsoft is looking beyond Solo2's immediate use. The
company expects the new chip to anchor its .NET strategy, an
attempt to redefine itself for the Internet age. Microsoft
announced it will make the technology available to other vendors
next year. (SiliconValley.com, 23 Aug 2000)

EDUCAUSE <EDUCAUSE@EDUCAUSE.EDU>

From: moza@butterfly.mv.com

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Israel freezes talks with PA on prisoners, water
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 08:59:20 -0400

Thursday, August 24, 2000

Israel freezes talks with PA on prisoners, water

By Aluf Benn
Ha'aretz Diplomatic Correspondent

Israel has suspended all talks with the Palestinian Authority on matters
unresolved by the interim agreement, including the release of prisoners and
the third phase of an IDF withdrawal from the West Bank.

The freeze was decided by Prime Minister Ehud Barak following the
unsuccessful Camp David summit. A senior political source in Jerusalem
said "these matters are not being dealt with. There is no point in giving the
opposition an excuse to ask why [Israel] should move toward the
Palestinians who have not come forward at all or made any gesture."

The source said the PA periodically asks to discuss the unresolved issues,
especially the release of more prisoners, but these are usually half-hearted.
He said "it does not seem as if they expect talks to be renewed."

The transfer of the villages of Abu Dis, Azzariye and Suwahara, just outside
of Jerusalem's municipal boundaries, to the PA's full control has also been
dropped from the agenda, even though it was approved by the government
more than three months ago. A decision by the cabinet before the start of
the summit to allow Barak to release further Palestinian prisoners has also
not yet been implemented.

Israel and the PA are holding talks on a permanent status agreement on two
tracks, both mediated by U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, Dennis
Ross:

l The core issues: Acting Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami and attorney
Gilad Sher are meeting with Saeb Erekat and Mohammed Dahlan from the
PA. The purpose of the discussions is to put on paper those matters verbally
agreed upon at the Thurmont talks, such as borders, security arrangements
and settlements, as well as to discuss possible ideas regarding Jerusalem.
An Israeli source said last night that there has not yet been any significant
progress or any leniency in the Palestinian's stance over Jerusalem

l The general matters: Chief Israeli negotiator Oded Eran is meeting with
Erekat to discuss matters related to daily life after the final-status
agreement. Professional groups are dealing with each matter separately.
There has been some advancement here, though discussions over water
rights remain suspended.

The next stop on the peace trail is a series of meetings between U.S.
President Bill Clinton and Barak and between Clinton and PA Chairman
Yasser Arafat at the UN headquarters in New York. The Clinton-Barak
meeting has been scheduled for September 6.

"The meeting with Arafat will give us a clear indication of the chances of an
agreement," said an Israeli source. He says that this meeting is no less
important that Clinton's meeting with the late Syrian president Hafez Assad
in Geneva at the end of March, which effectively signaled the end of efforts to
secure an agreement between Israel and her northern neighbor.

http://www3.haaretz.co.il/eng/scripts/article.asp?mador=14&datee=08/24/00&
id=90484

From: moza@butterfly.mv.com

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Re: Bringing Back the Tiger
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 08:31:56 -0500

.....MONEY TO BE MADE !.....Shophar

-----Original Message-----
From: bpr-list@philologos.org [mailto:bpr-list@philologos.org]
Sent: Wednesday, August 23, 2000 1:17 PM
To: bpr-list@philologos.org
Subject: [BPR] - Re: Bringing Back the Tiger

I am curious as to why they would want to bring this wolf back, since it
kills sheep and livestock?

Brenda

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - OIC'S JERUSALEM COMMITTEE TO MEET IN RABAT
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 08:54:37 -0500

OIC'S JERUSALEM COMMITTEE TO MEET IN RABAT
http://www.saudiembassy.net/press_release/press_release.html
August 15, 2000

The Jerusalem Committee of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC)
will hold its 18th session in Rabat on August 28, 2000, chaired by King
Muhammad VI of Morocco. The meeting will focus on reviewing developments in
the issue of final status of Al-Quds [Jerusalem] in the light of proposals
brought up during the recent Camp David Summit. The committee consists of
the 16 foreign ministers of Bangladesh, Egypt, Guinea, Indonesia, Iran,
Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, Pakistan, Palestine, Niger,
Saudi Arabia, Senegal and Syria.

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - IRAQI ITEMS
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 09:00:09 -0500

~~~~GULFWIRE~~~~WEEK OF AUGUST 21-27, 2000~~~~

KUWAIT, ARAB STATES REACT TO SADDAM'S THREATS

To protest recent Iraqi threats, Kuwait's government summoned the
ambassadors of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to the
Foreign Ministry, as well as envoys from Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)
countries to "inform them of the gravity of the situation," AFP reported on
9 August. Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Shaykh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah told them
that Kuwait "would take all precautionary measures."

Iraqi leader Saddam Husseyn's latest round of threats began during speeches
on the 12th anniversary of the Iran-Iraq war and on the 10th anniversary of
Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. The Arab League response to Saddam's remarks, as
delivered by Secretary-General Ismat Abd Al-Majid was: "I deplore what was
said in Iraqi President Saddam Husseyn's speech. It was totally
unsatisfactory."

Al-Majid expressed the hope that Husseyn's remarks would not have a
"negative effect" on a meeting of the Arab League's Ministerial Council on 3
September. Saudi Arabia dismissed the remarks. Saudi Arabian Radio on 14
August quoted Prince Sultan Bin-Abd-Al-Aziz, second deputy prime minister
and minister of defense and aviation, as saying on 13 August "we have gotten
used to such talk. But I would like to emphasize to our fraternal Iraqi
people that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has never fired a shot against any
Arab." As far as a meeting by the GCC's defense ministers to discuss the
threats, he said "I do not think these threats deserve all this attention."
(David Nissman)

BAGHDAD DENOUNCES 'SAUDI-KUWAITI AGGRESSION'

A joint meeting of the Revolution Command Council (RCC) and the leadership
of the Iraq Command of the Ba'th Party, chaired by President Saddam Husseyn,
discussed what it called the "ongoing Saudi-Kuwaiti aggression on Iraq,"
according to the Iraq News Agency on 12 August. The meeting held the Saudi
and Kuwaiti regimes responsible for the continuing sanctions and decided to
"expose this aggression by all means" to Arab and world public opinion. This
meeting followed on a 7 August article in "Babil," the newspaper published
by Udayy Saddam Husseyn, son of Saddam, which said that Iraq has still not
relinquished "our lawful historical rights to the land, to sovereignty, and
to water outlets" in reference to Kuwait. (David Nissman)

RUSSIA, IRAQ CRITICIZE LATEST BOMBING RAIDS

Both the Russian Foreign Ministry and the Iraqi government have complained
about the latest bombing raids by U.S. and U.K. planes. Moscow has demanded
the two air forces stop bombing Iraq at once, according to Interfax on 15
August. Meanwhile, Iraq has claimed that recent raids have killed a number
of civilians and damaged a number of businesses in the southern Iraqi city
of Al-Samawa. These claims have been denied by the U.S. military. According
to "The New York Times" of 16 August, the targets struck included a
warehouse
holding anti-aircraft weapons, not food, as the Iraqis alleged. To deprive
the Iraqi claims of any legitimacy, U.S. military officials discussed
classified assessments of the bombing, including aerial photographs and
other intelligence reports. They did not deny there may have been civilian
casualties. (David Nissman)

IRAQ TO MAKE MISSILE COMPONENTS

Iraq is secretly negotiating with Russian companies to set up a plant to
manufacture ballistic missile components, according to a report in the 14
August "Times" of London. Michael Evans, the "Times" defense editor, writes
that recent meetings between Russian and Iraqi principals have been focused
on building a plant for the construction of gyroscopes, a key component of
long-range missiles. The project is believed to have been begun last year
with the visit of a senior Iraqi military industry official to Moscow. In
April of last year, Sultan Hashim Ahmad, the Iraqi defense minister, also
visited Moscow.

For its part, official Moscow has categorically denied that such a deal is
in the offing, Interfax reported on the same day. And the Iraqi charge
d'affaires in Moscow, Ahmad Nazim, also issued a denial to the Russian
agency.

But if such a deal is in fact in the works, it is a clear violation of the
arms embargo because Russian engineers would be involved in building and
running the plant. (David Nissman)

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Life in the clouds
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 09:53:43 -0500

Life in the clouds
The clouds sailing over our heads may be home to thriving communities of
microorganisms
http://www.newscientist.com/nl/0826/clouds.html

BACTERIA live and grow in clouds, where they may trigger rainfall and alter
climate. The discovery was made by a team of Austrian researchers, in clouds
over the Alps.

"We were astonished to find actively growing bacteria," says Birgitt Sattler
of the University of Innsbruck. She says that although bacteria are known to
be blown high into the atmosphere and dispersed around the Earth, no one
knew if they could actually grow and divide in clouds. "The relatively clean
and cold atmosphere of high altitudes was not regarded as a suitable place
for bacterial growth."

Yet bacteria do grow there, as Sattler found when the team looked at samples
of a cloud that passed over a meteorological station on top of Mount
Sonnblick, near Salzburg. Water droplets in the cloud were frozen onto
Teflon plates then melted in the lab and monitored at the low temperatures
found in clouds.

-- more --

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Up and away
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 09:55:01 -0500

Up and away
A strap-on helicopter could help you rise above the hurly-burly
http://www.newscientist.com/nl/0826/heli.html

IT IS every driver's dream. Stuck in a traffic jam? No problem. Simply strap
on your personal helicopter and fly away from the cares and woes of everyday
life. Now a Californian company hopes to turn this escapist vision into
reality--and even NASA is taking the project seriously.

-- more --

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Safe to drink
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 09:57:03 -0500

Safe to drink

A PLASTIC bottle provides a cheap way to harness the power of the Sun to
disinfect emergency supplies of drinking water after natural disasters.
http://www.newscientist.com/nl/0826/solar.html

This week Oxfam discussed using solar disinfection in Assam, India,
where the floods earlier this month left 5 million people homeless. The
charity says that chlorination tablets for disinfecting drinking water
are in short supply.

The idea of using plastic bottles for solar disinfection--or SODIS--has
been developed by researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute for
Environmental Science and Technology in Duebendorf. To disinfect water,
people simply fill clear plastic bottles with water and leave them in
the sun. The heat warms up the water and the combination of warm water
and ultraviolet radiation kills most microorganisms.

--- more ---

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Re: More cultural craziness ...
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Tracy")
Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 11:03:08 -0400

The school and the bus driver should be ashamed of them selves.
Honestly how can you punish a 6 year old child for over reacting like
that. It is more humorous than a crime.

As far a going to the bathroom I think that the women in Sweden need to
"breath through the nose". If any man sits to pee because his
girlfriend or wife says he must should get elective castration because
he doesn't need them any more! ...... I just realized that one of the
women is a psychiatrist! Wow! She knows how mentally damaging it is to
have someone submit to a unnatural act (and degrading) so they can
receive compassion and love. This is the kind of atmosphere that will
produce a mass murderer.

The last two paragraphs prove that something is really going wrong with
the psyche of the people of this world. On one hand we think of
political correct names for word that sound ugly. Like janitor is a
custodian, or shell shock is "post traumatic stress disorder". But when
you do that you take you take the sting out of the word. You minimize
the horror of war and the syndrome by making it sound "nice" . On the
other hand you can't say "slaving" over a hot stove because it
"minimizes" slavery.

Some day people will realize that it is not the words that you use as
much as the context of what you are saying that is the point! This is
the product of the sensational news media. People are starting to
realize that sensational words can make get people to react in one way
or another. Certain words push are buttons and we respond without
thinking it through. Any married couple learns that then can manipulate
a spouse if they do or say certain things. This is the way the media,
government, and business leaders manage the masses. "Political
engineering" is a commercial, "poles" are marketing questioners.

We are never going to get the whole world to talk in a "nice way" not to
mention when we can't make some words nicer because it might "minimize"
someone ordeal. If people are realizing that certain words make them
feel a certain way then THEY need to make it a growing experience and
change the way someone else speech affects them. I hear someone say
something and I don't take it to hart. There opinion is just there
opinion and they are just another human being who is subject to being
wrong and is of no higher value that I am. So there opinion really does
not mean anything of value to me, because I will not receive the praise
of man (humans). Man has self serving interest so what he says should
be ignored unless it is held fast in truth.

Tracy

> U.S. News and World Report
>
> Outlook 8/21/00
> By John Leo
>
> You can't make this up
> More cultural craziness that's stranger than fiction

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Re: New Assiryian Coalition Can Nuke America
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Tracy")
Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 11:19:38 -0400

None of the countries listed below have a missile that can reach the
United States. If you remember correctly that in the gulf war the best
missile that Iraq had is the scud from russia. It is highly inaccurate
and has a very short range. Iraq is the most advanced out of any of the
mention countries. Unless they purchased a ICBM from Russia or one of
the old members of the soviet union they don't have the capabilities to
hit the U.S.A.. Even if they did they would have to build the silo's to
launch the missile and I believe our spy satellites would have picked it
up before it was completed.

The only way they would hit the U.S. would be to carry it over piggy
back with one of there suicide missions. Which in its self is scary.

Moza wrote:
>
> New Assiryian Coalition Can Nuke America
>
>
> If history repeats (as it may very well be doing this time) a New Assyrian
> Coalition (PLO, Syria, Egypt, and Iraq) already possesses ballistic missiles
> that can strike the continental United States, with nuclear warheads or
> biological agents. Using the demand for an independent PLO state as a
> political catalyst, this coalition may very well launch against Israel and it's
> greatest ally, the United States.
>
> Full Story:
> http://www.yowusa.com/authors/mmasters/3Q00/MiddleEast2/middleeast2.html

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Canadian Church faces ruin over sex cases
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 11:44:05 -0500

August 24 2000 CANADA

http://www.the-times.co.uk/

Canadian Church faces ruin over sex cases

FROM BEN MACINTYRE IN WASHINGTON

THE Anglican Church of Canada has laid off staff and slashed its budget
in an attempt to avert bankruptcy from lawsuits filed by native
Americans alleging sexual and cultural abuse in church-run boarding
schools. The Church, with 2.2 million members the third-largest
denomination in Canada, is facing 350 suits from 1,600 plaintiffs, most
of whom allege that church authorities failed to stop sex abuse in its
boarding schools and tried to assimilate Indians into white culture by
eroding indigenous language, religion and traditions.

The suits have cost the Anglican Church more than C$2.4 million (�1
million) in legal fees. This week Anglican leaders cut the budget by
more than 10 per cent after its accountants said that at the present
rate the Church would be bankrupt by next year.

To deal with its spiralling legal costs, the Anglican Synod, with assets
of C$10.3 million (�4.7 million) has scaled back charitable work, but
the Church still faces millions in damages. Only one of the lawsuits has
been settled to date, in an out-of-court agreement.

A single class-action suit in Ontario is claiming C$2.8 billion (�1.2
billion) for abuses suffered by all former students of church-run
boarding schools in Canada.

The courts have ruled that the Government shares responsibility with the
Anglican, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian and United Churches of Canada for
abuses at religious schools, but so far Jean Chr�tien, Canada's Prime
Minister, has rejected appeals for the federal authorities to contribute
to a settlement.

Several thousand suits have been filed against the churches and the
federal government over the residential school system. The Anglican
Church ran 37 such schools, closing the last one in 1969. The Catholic
Church faces suits from more than 4,000 plaintiffs.

Former students in church boarding schools for Indians claim that the
brutal educational regime specifically sought to erase native culture.
In 1908, the Canadian Minister for Indian Affairs pronounced the need to
remove "the Indian from his primitive state, raising him up and making
of him an honest citizen".

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Saddam grows more cocky by the day
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 11:53:36 -0500

Thursday, August 24, 2000

IRAQ

Saddam grows more cocky by the day
ASSOCIATED PRESS in Baghdad

http://www.scmp.com/News/World/Article/FullText_asp_ArticleID-20000824034144
044.asp

Iraq remains defiant as it awaits another attempt by the United Nations to
determine whether it is producing nuclear and chemical weapons - and
confident that growing support means it does not risk attack.
In a meeting with army commanders broadcast on Iraqi television late on
Monday, President Saddam Hussein declared there "is a huge difference"
between conditions today and the situation in 1991, when a US-led
multinational force routed Iraqi troops in Kuwait.

There have been no UN inspectors in Iraq since a team left in December 1998
ahead of US and British air strikes meant to punish Saddam for allegedly
failing to co-operate with the United Nations. A new team had been expected
to attempt to enter Iraq this month. Iraq has said it will not allow the
inspectors in.

Economy-crippling UN sanctions imposed after Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait
can only be suspended if Baghdad co-operates with the new inspectors and can
only be lifted if Iraq is declared free of weapons of mass destruction.

State-run newspapers are full of articles declaring the US-backed sanctions
are fizzling and the once formidable anti-Iraq alliance Washington led is
crumbling.

"Every day, the world witnesses serious changes and developments showing the
degree of shift [towards Iraq] in the international political climate,"
declared the government al-Jumhouriya newspaper on Tuesday.

It and other state-run papers devoted front-page stories to a letter they
said Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov had sent to UN Secretary-General
Kofi Annan, saying his country had lost nearly US$30 billion (HK$233
billion) in trade with Iraq due to sanctions. The papers also quoted Mr
Ivanov as saying that sanctions were preventing Iraq from repaying US$7.8
billion in debts to Russia.

Government officials privately say their rejection of a request by the
United Nations to send a new team of inspectors could spark a new diplomatic
or perhaps military confrontation with Washington. But they also have seen
public opinion - in Arab and international arenas - condemn punishment that
has hit ordinary Iraqis hardest.

Senior foreign dignitaries are frequently shown on Iraqi television
delivering messages to Saddam from their heads of state. The stream of
international visitors culminated this month with a trip by Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez, the first head of state to call on Saddam since the
Gulf War.

UN exemptions to the sanctions have enabled Iraq to re-emerge as a
profitable market in international trade. The oil-for-food program,
initially a humanitarian proposal, has also recast it as an important player
in an oil-thirsty world. Iraq's external trade under the UN-monitored oil
program, which allows it to skirt sanctions as long as most of the proceeds
are used to meet the basic needs of ordinary Iraqis, now runs into billions
of dollars a year.

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Summer? This is the last straw
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 12:04:18 -0500

Summer? This is the last straw

BRITAIN'S bizarre summer weather has taken another twist - straw showers.
Homes and gardens on a Suffolk housing estate were carpeted with falling
barley straw for around 20 minutes.

Weather experts believe it was sucked up by a mini tornado and possibly
carried for several miles before being dumped around the Pinewood estate in
Ipswich on Tuesday.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/et?ac=002550734463243&rtmo=fqsllfNs&atmo=tttttttd
&pg

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Church's rally has right-wing support
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 12:22:26 -0500

Church's rally has right-wing support

Militia members expected at protest accompanying hearing on Baptist Temple's
fate.
http://starnews.com/news/articles/baptist0823.ART.html
By Terry Horne

Indianapolis Star August 23, 2000

One by radio, two by Internet.

The Indianapolis Baptist Temple's clarion calls are expected to bring
several hundred fundamentalists, tax protesters and other supporters to a
rally today protesting the government's request to seize the church.

The church's feud with the Internal Revenue Service has attracted the
attention of the conservative, largely religious Patriot movement across the
country.

James "Bo" Gritz, a former Green Beret colonel who is leader in the
movement, spoke out against the IRS at a Tuesday night prayer service at the
church.

U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker is holding a 2 p.m. hearing today on
the government's $6 million judgment against the church for unpaid employee
withholding taxes, penalties and interest.

The Justice Department has asked Barker to appoint receivers to sell the
buildings. IRS officials could not readily cite another instance in which
they have seized a church.

The temple's senior pastor, the Rev. Greg A. Dixon, promised again that
church members will not give up their buildings willingly.

"We will not allow someone to come in and steal God's property from the
people. They're going to have to take it. We're not going to turn over the
keys."

Dixon insisted there will be no violence. The word has been passed, he said.
"No weapons. No uniforms. No violence."

Few people expect Barker to issue an order immediately to seize the church
complex at 2711 S. East St.

Few seem worried about the rally outside the Federal Courts Building at Ohio
and Pennsylvania streets.

"We expect it to be peaceful and no problems," said Rick Atchison, deputy
district director of the Federal Protective Service, which is in charge of
security at the courthouse.

The rally might be only the rehearsal for a showdown brewing since 1984,
when Dixon's father, the Rev. Greg J. Dixon, redefined his church as an
"unregulated" church, which later stopped paying taxes.

It was a break in ranks not just with the Internal Revenue Service but with
the country's established religious right.

The elder Dixon, who was one of the initial directors of Jerry Falwell's
Moral Majority, gradually moved his church into the Christian Patriot
movement, said Chris Berlet, senior analyst with Political Research
Associates, a Massachusetts group that tracks right-wing groups.

The Patriot movement is largely identified by its concerns: worries about
one-world government, erosion of individual rights and an overbearing ,
conspiratorial federal government.

In the Dixons' views, the church severed its connections with government --
and its tax obligations -- by not organizing itself under government laws.

And that freed the church from regulations accompanying non-profit status,
such as not engaging in politics, they have argued.

"It doesn't matter what major religious-right group you want to name. They
have allowed themselves to be controlled," said the younger Dixon. "That's
why, on January 1st, 1984, we voluntarily untangled ourselves."

The church has claimed that the people who work at the church are
self-employed ministers, and that all have paid their personal taxes. "The
government is going to come and shut down the church not because church
taxes weren't paid but because of how the church taxes were paid," he said.

The immediate worry of local officials, however, isn't about taxes, but
about whether the tax dispute remains peaceful.

Although Dixon has pledged not to start a fight, he acknowledges that he can
only ask supporters to abide by his wishes.

So far, it appears they have.

The Rev. Norman Olson, a militia leader who left the Michigan Militia
because it was too moderate, said he expects some militia members will
attend the rally today, but not in uniform.

None will interfere with the Dixons' plans for nonviolent resistance, he
said.

"I've talked to militias around the country. We must abide by Dr. Dixon and
his son's decisions for the church," Olson said.

The 19 militias in the Southern Indiana Regional Militia are taking a
"wait-and-see attitude," said Roger Stalcup, the group's brigadier general.

The tax protest movement has sparked violence in the past.

In 1983, two federal marshals were killed in a shootout when they went to
capture Gordon Kahl, a convicted tax protester and a member of the
right-wing Posse Comitatus. Kahl was killed a few months later in a 36-hour
gunbattle. Two other right-wing groups, Christian Identity and the Order,
also have been linked to violence or threats of violence.

Yet much of the tax protest movement has remained nonviolent, Berlet said.

The U.S. Marshals Service declined to comment on plans for seizing the
Indianapolis Baptist Temple if and when Barker orders the foreclosure.

The judge delayed acting on the Justice Department's motions while the
Baptist Temple appealed the tax judgment to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals.

However, a three-judge panel ruled Aug. 14 that the church could not divorce
itself from tax laws requiring it to withhold employee income taxes and pay
the church's share of Social Security and Medicare taxes.

Berlet, who monitors Internet traffic from a Boston suburb, said the
Indianapolis Baptist Temple has become the "cause celebre of the month"
among Patriot groups.

Message traffic has been prolific. The word has been spread on radio shows
as well, said the younger Dixon.

Though all announced intentions may be peaceful, Berlet urges caution: "This
is a world view that sees provocation where others might not. So I think it
pays to act cautiously throughout."

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - IS THE 1ST AMENDMENT VOID IN THE WORKPLACE?
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 12:27:04 -0500

TROUBLE IN MIND
IS THE 1ST AMENDMENT VOID IN THE WORKPLACE?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/commentary/printedition/article/0,2669,SA
V-0008240207,FF.html

Steve Chapman
August 24, 2000

Americans enjoy the right to freedom of speech, and that includes speech
using symbols as well as words. So if you want to fly a Chinese flag, an
Iraqi flag, a Cuban flag, a North Korean flag, a Union Jack or a Jolly
Roger, the government may not stop you, even if it finds the flag offensive
or politically subversive. Just as you may say what you want, you may
display any flag you want.

As long as it's not a Confederate flag.

I'm not talking here about the decision of South Carolina to stop flying the
rebel battle flag above the capitol, a sensible step taken in response to
well-justified protests by the NAACP. Even the NAACP, as far as I know, has
never proposed to make it illegal for private citizens to make use of this
Southern symbol. But now federal civil-rights laws may end up indirectly
doing something--outlawing private displays of the flag--that the federal
government could never do directly.

The evidence comes from a case involving an Alcoa aluminum plant in Badin,
N.C., where black employees are suing the company for alleged racial
harassment and discrimination and asking for some $10 million in damages.
After the suit was filed, reports The Wall Street Journal, one of the
workers made a list of all the vehicles in the company parking lot adorned
with Confederate flag bumper stickers or decals. He then sent it to his
lawyer as evidence that Alcoa maintained a "hostile working environment," in
violation of federal law.

The corporation quickly decided that Confederate flags in any form could not
be allowed anywhere on company property. The ban went so far as to forbid
the special license plates issued by the state to motorists whose ancestors
served in the Confederate army.

Alcoa officials told the Journal that the ban had absolutely nothing to do
with the lawsuit, a claim that should be taken every bit as seriously as the
Confederate Air Force. When someone sues an employer for $10 million over
supposed racial slights, the employer would be crazy not to bend over
backwards to show its sensitivity to minority concerns. Given the state of
civil rights law, companies have powerful incentives to suppress any speech
that some employees may not like.

That's because, these days, racial and sexual discrimination don't have to
involve anything as blatant as refusing to hire blacks or underpaying women.
All it takes to violate the law these days is allowing a "hostile or abusive
work environment." So if someone feels uncomfortable because of what another
person says or displays, the firm can find itself hauled into court and
ordered to write a check with lots of zeroes.

So a lot of people have found themselves forced to surrender their 1st
Amendment rights. UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh notes that one court
found an employer guilty of religious harassment because it put Christian
messages on paychecks. At another company, an employee who put pictures of
the Ayatollah Khomeini in her own cubicle was ruled to have committed
"national-origin harassment" of an Iranian co-worker.

Off-color jokes can trigger liability, says Volokh, even if the jokes are
not insulting to either sex. The University of Nebraska ordered a graduate
student to get rid of a desk photo of his wife in a swimsuit because an
employee complained that it amounted to sexual harassment.

Given decisions like these, it's perfectly reasonable to treat a rebel flag
as a form of racial discrimination--and perfectly reasonable for an employer
to decide it's got to go. "Harassment law," writes Volokh, "potentially
burdens any workplace speech that's offensive to at least one person in the
workplace based on that person's race, religion, sex, national origin, age,
disability, military membership or veteran status or, in some jurisdictions,
sexual orientation, military status, political affiliation, criminal record,
occupation, citizenship status, tobacco use outside work, Appalachian
origin, receipt of public assistance, dishonorable discharge from the
military, or personal appearance."

If private employers were doing this purely of their own volition, it would
be bad enough. It's much worse when they are acting under the dire threat of
being sued, held liable and publicly branded as hostile to some protected
group. Under the 1st Amendment, the government is not supposed to be able to
decide which ideas may be expressed and which may not. But through
harassment laws, it is telling employers they may not allow views that some
people resent.

If that's going to be the standard of what people can say, we may as well
all be fitted for muzzles. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
once wrote that liberty means not just "free thought for those who agree
with us but freedom for the thought we hate." Our harassment laws say: Not
anymore, it doesn't.

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Experts plan for divided Jerusalem
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 12:28:01 -0500

Experts plan for divided Jerusalem
Despite leaders failed talks, joint group meets to map out city's future

http://www.detnews.com/2000/nation/0008/24/a06-107557.htm

Middle East update

VIOLENCE FLARES: Hundreds of Jewish settlers and Palestinian residents
fought with fists and stones in Hebron on Saturday, injuring several people.

DEADLINE NEARS: Israel and the Palestinians face a Sept. 13 deadline to
conclude a peace treaty or face the prospect of Arafat proclaiming
Palestinian statehood.

By Laurie Copans / Associated Press

    JERUSALEM -- It was a sweltering day, even for Jerusalem, when 16
Israeli and Palestinian city planners and geographers met over coffee and
cake in a well-to-do Arab neighborhood.
   The Middle East summit at Camp David had just collapsed, but the
atmosphere in the air-conditioned conference room of the Ambassador Hotel
was relaxed. Undeterred by their leaders' failure, the experts tossed around
ideas about how to run a city that might one day be home to two capitals.
   They carefully avoided the dispute over sovereignty that stumped Israeli
Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
   Instead, they talked about practical matters. Should there be a joint
police force? Where should dozens of new embassies be located? How to limit
building height around the walled Old City, Jerusalem's main attraction and
home to major holy shrines?
   Jerusalem's future is quietly being shaped in such informal sessions, the
so-called "second track" that has run alongside the official negotiations.
   Since participants are not designated as negotiators, they have greater
freedom to explore proposals and test the other side's reaction. At the same
time, they are in close touch with the political leaders.
   For example, a leading Israeli participant, political science professor
Menachem Klein, also serves as an adviser to Israel's acting foreign
minister and top negotiator, Shlomo Ben-Ami. Palestinian Manuel Hassassian,
head of the Jerusalem Task Force, works at the Orient House, the PLO
headquarters in Jerusalem.
   The give-and-take works both ways.
   Barak's new proposals at Camp David -- he offered the Palestinians
limited control in traditionally Arab east Jerusalem and suggested he was
willing to redraw the municipal boundaries -- galvanized the second track.
   "The idea of swapping (Jerusalem land) that was taboo in the past is now
something we are taking into consideration," said Hassassian, sweeping his
hands over a large map of Jerusalem in his Orient House office.
   Now, Muslim, Christian and Jewish clergy have begun tackling the most
difficult issue -- control of the holy shrines in the Old City. The Temple
Mount, former site of the Jewish Temples and known to Muslims as Haram
as-Sharif, or Noble Sanctuary, is considered the fault line of the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
   "We need to be creative enough to propose ideas that benefit both sides,"
said Israeli Justice Minister Yossi Beilin who, along with Israeli academic
Ron Pundak helped organize the second track.
   "This is opening our horizons," Hassassian said.

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - France turns on Mormons over 'baptism of dead'
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 12:32:47 -0500

France turns on Mormons over 'baptism of dead'

By John Lichfield in Paris
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/World/Europe/2000-08/france230800.shtm
l

23 August 2000

The French state is growing increasingly anxious about the "baptism of
ancestors" by the Mormon Church.

According to an investigation in yesterday's Lib�ration newspaper, Paris
is having second thoughts about a 13-year-old agreement allowing the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to microfilm all birth and
death registers and parish records in France up to the beginning of the
20th century. Under the agreement, made in 1987, the Mormon church
agreed that the records would not be resold and would be used only by
its members.

According to their doctrine, Mormons must "baptise the dead", or attempt
to baptise their ancestors as far back as they can be traced. In return
for allowing Mormon researchers to film the records - anyone is entitled
to write them down - the French government received two free copies of
each microfilm for its own archives.

But the agreement failed to take account of the internet. The
information gathered so far, covering 56 of the 100 French metropolitan
and overseas d�partements, and containing the names of 400 million dead
French people, is now available on the Mormon website, familysearch.org.

Similar efforts are under way to trace ancestorsin other countries,
including Britain (where most parish records can be freely consulted).
This drive - officially an effort to "bring together the human family" -
has produced a vast archive of three billion names, which are stored in
a "genealogical library" contained within cellars hollowed out of a
hillside near Salt Lake City.

The information is an invaluable source for genealogists and individuals
tracing their roots, whether they are Mormons or not. But the French
government fears it is being used, subtly, by the Mormons as a
recruitment tool. French civil liberties organisations fear it amounts
to a creation of a "secret file" on the human race.

It also raises the odd possibility that many of us are post-facto
descended from newly baptised Mormons, without knowing it.

Although not officially admitted, ex-Mormons have spoken of "mass
baptisms" of the dead, using names gathered by researchers. In other
words, the Mormons are gradually kidnapping all our ancestors.

Christian Euvrard, a spokesman for the Mormons, said it was impossible
to know whether "the spirits of the dead" accepted the invitation to
become Mormons. He said: "We are not hijacking them. The dead have their
own independent referee. Between his death and his resurrection, Christ
preached the gospel to the dead.

"Our belief is that men and women can be converted in the spirit world,
after their death. For us, there is no one more alive than a dead
person."

The posting of the French records on the internet - which implicitly
breaks the 1987 agreement - was raised with the Mormon church by the
director-general of the French archives, Philippe Belaval, in June. The
French Ministry of Culture is to meet civil rights groups next month to
hear their complaints.

The French national committee for information and liberty fears that the
Mormon file could allow living people to be classified according to
their race or religion or enable the health history of their ancestors
to be investigated without their knowledge or agreement.

Mr Belaval acknowledged to Lib�ration that there was a potential
problem. "The existence of this website has led us to question the way
the state and the [Mormons] agreed to use this information. Why is the
church putting this information on the web? For what purpose and in what
context?

"The 1987 agreement failed to foresee the coming of new technologies. We
cannot remain with the status quo."

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Weekend News Today items (8/24/00)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 18:47:31 -0400

Israeli army training some settlers to be snipers

                         Weekend News Today
                         Lead: Kelly
                         Source: Reuters

Thu Aug 24,2000 -- The Israeli army said on Thursday it was training some
Jewish settlers to fire sniper rifles in case of violence should the Palestinians
unilaterally declare an independent state. Nerves are on edge as the sides
approach a September 13 deadline they have set for reaching a peace deal.
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat has said he could declare in
independent state as early as that date. She said the military was holding
several training exercises for reservists living in the Israeli-occupied West
Bank and Gaza Strip.

Barak warns Palestinians he has alternative plans if peace talks fail

                         Weekend News Today
                         Lead: Kelly
                         Source: Ha'aretz

Thu Aug 24,2000 -- In a clear warning to the Palestinians, Prime Minister
Ehud Barak said Thursday he will not make peace at any price and that if
negotiations fail, he will ask the hawkish opposition party Likud to join his
government. The Palestinians dismissed Barak's warning and the Likud
rejected his offer. Barak said it will become clear within a few weeks whether
a peace treaty is possible.

In interviews on two main radio stations Thursday, Barak said he was aware
that Likud leader Ariel Sharon could not join the coalition as long as peace
talks continued. Likud is staunchly opposed to concessions Barak has
offered Arafat, including Palestinian statehood in most of the West Bank and
Gaza Strip. "I know that today they [the opposition parties] can't join, but
maybe in a few weeks, they will be able to do so," Barak told Army Radio,
adding that he believed the peace talks had a 50-50 chance of success.
Barak said that if peace talks fail, he would direct his attention to domestic
problems.

Government officials tour 120 major U.S. cities to prepare for possible bio-
chem attack

                         Weekend News Today
                         Lead: Kelly
                         Source: Middle East Newsline

Thu Aug 24,2000 -- The Clinton administration is warning of a biological or
chemical weapons attack over the next few years as a leading expert says
the nation is totally unprepared for such a threat. Administration officials are
touring the United States and explaining the nonconventional weapons threat
posed by so-called rogue states and terrorist groups. They said chemical
weapons are easy to assemble and could already be in the possession of
the Qaida group led by Saudi billionaire fugitive Osama Bin Laden.

"We are concerned that some country will seek to release a chemical or
biological agent on American soil sometime in the future," Defense Secretary
William Cohen said. "We are anticipating that kind of terror. We are
preparing our citizens by going out to 120 different cities and preparing those
who will be required to respond to a chemical or biological attack."

http://www.upway.com/cgi/readnews.cgi?day=00_08_24&item=#967147041

From: moza@butterfly.mv.com

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Re: More cultural craziness ...
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Tom S.")
Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 16:48:09 -0700

Hi, Tracy

At 11:03 08/24/2000 -0400, you wrote:

>>>The school and the bus driver should be ashamed of them
selves. Honestly how can you punish a 6 year old child for
over reacting like that. It is more humorous than a
crime.<<<

I think stupidity should be a crime, or at least a
misdemeanor, at least for people who have the power to
affect the lives of others, and particularly when they
affect children. The persons involved in that decision
should be reclassified to janitor or kitchen help. They
have demonstrated that they are not intelligent enough for
the job they hold.

>>>As far a going to the bathroom I think that the women
in Sweden need to "breath through the nose". If any man
sits to pee because his girlfriend or wife says he must
should get elective castration because he doesn't need them
any more! ......<<<

Right! Why should such demonstrated weakness be passed on
to future generations.

>>>I just realized that one of the women is a
psychiatrist! Wow! She knows how mentally damaging it is
to have someone submit to a unnatural act (and degrading)
so they can receive compassion and love. This is the kind
of atmosphere that will produce a mass murderer.<<<

Correction. She is supposed to know that. I don't know
how the profession is set up in Sweden, but in this
country, being a psychiatrist just requires an MD degree
and a short course in psychology and the psychiatric
procedures. They don't have to actually know very much
about psychology. I have had more education in psychology
then is required of them, in this country. If I need
someone to help me with a psychological problem, I will
demand a psychologist, who may still be stupid, but at
least will have had the full course.

>>>The last two paragraphs prove that something is really
going wrong with the psyche of the people of this world.<<<

Doesn't that sound pretty Orwellian? I refer to the book,
by Orwell, called "1984", in which they had this kind of
double speak forced on them by the "big brother" government

>>>Some day people will realize that it is not the words
that you use as much as the context of what you are saying
that is the point! This is the product of the sensational
news media. People are starting to realize that
sensational words can make get people to react in one way
or another.<<<

It all comes from the mentality that thinks that getting
people to say something in a "nicer" way will cause them to
be nicer. Doesn't work. YOu have to change the reasons for
their saying the harsh words. Also, there is the idea that
we can improve things by "raising people's awareness" of
the extent of their mistreatment. People already know when
they are actually being mistreated. It is really pretty
obvious. But we can teach them to think they are when they
are not and to be extremely sensitive to how others treat
them. This, of course, in the real world, makes it very
difficult for these people to relate to others who live in
the real world. Most of us won't put up with such
hypersensitivity. It is too much easier to find someone
else, who is less like a burr.

>>>We are never going to get the whole world to talk in a
"nice way" not to mention when we can't make some words
nicer because it might "minimize" someone ordeal.<<<

We cannot force change on anyone. The absolute best we
can do is to give them a safe environment in which to risk
changes and see how they work. Crime, of course, must be
punished, or at least the criminal removed from the steet.
But, the government cannot legislate morality and should
not be trying to do so. And groups who try to use
government of other rule making bodies to enforce their own
peculiarly twisted morality should be sumarilly dismissed
by those bodies. Not doing so is adequate demonstration of
their incompetence for that position.

Thanks for you response. I enjoyed reading your thoughts.
I also agree with them.

Tom S.
The Hermit on The Hill
tomshirl@lodelink.com

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

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