BPR Mailing List Digest: 07/06/00

Philologos
BPR Mailing List Digest
July 6, 2000

Digest Home | 2000 | July, 2000

To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - July 6, 2000 TV Programs
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Thu, 6 Jul 2000 08:48:51 -0400

8:00 PM Eastern

DISC - THE PENTAGON - Nerve center of the United States
military.(CC)(TVG)

TLC - FEROCIOUS OCEANS - The ocean's power feeds intense
storms and waves; a couple struggles to survive an Australian
tropical storm.(CC)

9:00

DISC - EXTRA-SENSORY PERCEPTION - The military employs
people with ESP for intelligence operations.(CC)(TVG)

10:00

CBS - 48 HOURS (Repeat) - An intimate portrait of a
polygamous family in Utah.(CC)

HIST - BIG RIGS OF COMBAT: TANKS - A history shows the tank,
from World War I to the present.(CC)(TVG)

VH1 - RANKIN FILE - "Rock & Porn" - Connections
between the rock and pornography
industries.(CC)(TV14)

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - (Fwd) New Scientist Newsletter 8 July 2000
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Thu, 6 Jul 2000 08:59:50 -0400

------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date sent: Wed, 5 Jul 2000 18:26:09 -0400 (EDT)
From: newsletter@newscientist.com
To: research-bpr@philologos.org
Subject: New Scientist Newsletter 8 July 2000

NEW SCIENTIST WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
No 41 8 July 2000

In a lonely laboratory, deep in the heart of California, something
stirred...

QUANTUM GHOUL
Donald Eigler may have seen the world's smallest ghost - the electronic
signature of an atom projected at a distance of 10 nanometres from the
atom itself. The physicist is confident that his "quantum mirage" is not
an illusion. "It's a physical object," he insists, "there are real
electrons there." Eigler is already excited by the possibility of one
day fusing his apparition with a compatible atom and creating a weird
hybrid molecule which is "half real and half ghost".
http://www.newscientist.com/nl/0708/atom.html

GHOSTBUSTER
On the other hand, let's hope Eigler wasn't simply experiencing
"excitability of the temporal lobes" when he came across the atomic
phantom. Swiss neuroscientist Peter Brugger dismisses spooks and sprites
as neural phenomena akin to phantom limbs. He claims that phantom
"doubles", out-of-body experiences, and indeed all ghosts "are probably
nothing more but also nothing less than phantoms of the body"...
http://www.newscientist.com/nl/0708/phantom.html

And two more reports of a "nervous" disposition:

THE MUNCHIES
Some of us may have already stumbled upon a link between cannabis and
hunger. Biologists are also aware that cannabis-like compounds occur
naturally in breast milk, and that levels of these are at their highest
the day after giving birth. Now, however, in an experiment with newborn
mice, Ester Fride has the first evidence that these cannabinoids may
trigger feeding and could be vital for our survival.
http://www.newscientist.com/nl/0708/munchies.html

I WANT TO KNOW WHAT LOVE IS...
.and so do most cognitive neurologists. Andreas Bartels thinks he could
be getting closer to cracking the mystery. Bartels studied brain scans
of volunteers who considered themselves to be truly, madly and deeply
"in love", and was "really struck by how clear-cut" their brain activity
was. http://www.newscientist.com/nl/0708/love.html

GOSSIP, GOSSIP, GOSSIP
Meanwhile in the MIT Media Lab, Arthur works quietly at his computer.
Occasionally he spits a bit of chewed-up vegetable onto the floor, or
attacks a visitor, but colleagues are prepared to cut him a bit of
slack. After all, Arthur is a parrot. "What we're trying to do is to
build a Web browser for parrots," says biologist Irene Pepperberg who
hopes to set up chat rooms in cyberspace for clever but bored birds like
Arthur. And once the birds are online, Pepperberg will be turning her
attention to dogs. http://www.newscientist.com/nl/0708/parrot.html

WHIP IT
"The conalbumin-copper complex is more stable than conalbumin on its
own, so it resists denaturing and unfolding." To put it simply, if you
want marvellous meringues, always use a copper mixing bowl when you're
whisking your egg whites.
http://www.newscientist.com/nl/0708/copper.html

BEWARE OF THE BIRDS
In 1997 it killed 527 people in Bucharest, Romania. Last summer it
killed 7 New Yorkers. West Nile virus is carried by birds and spread by
mosquitoes to people. By now the virus "is probably in every corner of
North America" and experts think the next outbreak will be along the
Gulf coast. http://www.newscientist.com/nl/0708/birds.html

THE REAL GENE GENIE
On Monday 26 June 2000 the world celebrated the arrival of a "working
draft" of the human genome. Just over a week later scientists have taken
another huge step. In Canada an artificial chromosome was introduced
into a mouse and has passed successfully through three generations of
its descendants without harming the animals. The research has raised the
possibility that we will one day be able to treat genetic diseases with
"inherited" purpose-built chromosomes. Well, they did say the real work
was only just beginning... http://www.newscientist.com/nl/0708/pass.html

MAN ON A MISSION
"No, we are not going to send a couple up to have sex." On the other
hand, Jeffrey Manber has not ruled out the possibility of putting a
roulette table on Mir or organising a blackjack game on the aged Russian
space station. We talk to the president of the company which has come up
with the money to keep the station in orbit, and is already planning the
first holiday in space. http://www.newscientist.com/nl/0708/manber.html

AND FINALLY...
Sometimes, something just pops into your life and you wonder how you
ever managed without it. This could be the case with US patent 3 771
192, "a toy dog resembling a real dog and having a hollow interior in
which is mounted a vacuum cleaner." And if the value of such an object
is not immediately obvious to you, this week's Feedback can put you
straight... http://www.newscientist.com/nl/0708/feedback.html

[... snip ... ]

------- End of forwarded message -------

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Immunity to a virus
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Thu, 6 Jul 2000 09:07:33 -0400

Source: Cornell University
July 5, 2000

Blaine P. Friedlander Jr.
(607) 255-3290
bpf2@cornell.edu

For first time scientists trigger human immunity to a virus using a
plant-based, edible vaccine

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Human immunity to a virus has been triggered for the
first time by a vaccine genetically engineered into a potato. The
specific virus involved is the pervasive Norwalk virus -- the leading
cause of food-borne illness in the United States and much of the
developed world.

Scientists from the Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) for Plant Research
at Cornell University and the University of Maryland School of
Medicine at Baltimore report on the success of the first human
clinical trials of the plant-based vaccine in the latest issue (July
2000) of the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

"This plant-based vaccine could be the first one readily accepted in
the developed world. It's very exciting," says Charles Arntzen,
president and chief executive of BTI. "It's likely that in the United
States, this Norwalk virus vaccine could easily be the first licensed
product based on our plant biology research."

Arntzen and his colleagues previously conducted a successful clinical
trial in triggering immune response in humans to the bacterium
Escherichia coli through a transgenic potato vaccine. The result were
published in Nature Medicine in 1998.

The first of three stages of human clinical trials for the Norwalk
virus plant-based vaccine began in April 1999 and was conducted at the
Center for Vaccine Development at the University of Maryland.
Volunteers ate two or three doses of BTI-developed transgenic, raw
potato containing the viral antigen. Overall, 19 of the 20 volunteers
(95 percent) who ate the transgenic potatoes developed an immune
response to the Norwalk virus. Before eating the potatoes, the
volunteers were tested for Norwalk antibodies, and all indicated
previous exposure to the virus.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta estimates
that more than 23 million people in the United States are infected
annually by the Norwalk virus, or by Norwalk-like viruses. That
compares to 79,000 cases resulting from E. coli contamination, 2,500
cases of listeriosis and 1.4 million cases of illness from salmonella.

Norwalk virus received its name in 1968 when nearly 100 students in a
Norwalk, Ohio, school simultaneously came down with nausea, vomiting,
stomach cramps and diarrhea. It was not until four years later that
scientists realized the pathogen was a virus.

Until 1990, scientists and doctors routinely blamed common food-borne
disease symptoms on bacterial pathogens. Microbiologist Mary K. Estes
and others at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston cracked the
Norwalk virus's genetic code 10 years ago, and scientists routinely
began testing for it.

The BTI/University of Maryland report, "Human Immune Responses to a
Novel Norwalk Virus Vaccine Delivered in Transgenic Potatoes," was
authored by Arntzen; Estes;; Hugh S. Mason, a senior scientist at BTI;
and by Drs. Genevieve Losonsky, Carol O. Tacket, and Myron M. Levine,
of University of Maryland School of Medicine.

The research was funded in part by the National Institute of Allergy
and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health.

Mark

               Alien Astronomer - "Exploring Our Universe"
         http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Shadowlands/6583
  Astronomy - Hi-Tech/Secret Projects - Secret Societies - Ufology

via: isml@egroups.com

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Infobeat News items (7/6/00)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Thu, 6 Jul 2000 09:18:17 -0400

*** Central Asian gov'ts issue statement

DUSHANBE, Tajikistan (AP) - The presidents of Russia, China and three
Central Asian countries pledged Wednesday to fight terrorism, drug
trafficking and separatism - and showed a common defensiveness about
their human rights' records. In a joint statement, Russian President
Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Jiang Zemin and the other leaders
expressed concerns about Islamic separatist movements in the mountain
areas of Central Asia and agreed to set up a joint anti-terrorist
center in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan. Putin and Jiang
reiterated opposition to the U.S. plan to deploy a limited national
missile defense system, and they confirmed support for Moscow's
military campaign in Chechnya and Beijing's push for reunification
with Taiwan. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2567901802-664

*** UN pledges digital divide fight

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The Internet has given Ivory Coast villagers
instant access to the market prices of their cocoa and coffee crops,
Ethiopian herders the chance to sell their goats, and Indian children
a first glimpse of the Disney Channel. To make sure these don't
remain just isolated cases, the World Bank, the International
Monetary Fund, and the World Trade Organization joined the United
Nations on Wednesday in pledging to spread information technology and
the vast profits of E-commerce to the developing world. The United
Nations repeatedly has warned of the growing "digital divide" between
rich and poor countries. The statistics tell the story: The World
Bank says it has more telephones than Rwanda, and only 5% of the
world population has access to the Internet, according to a
U.N.-appointed panel of experts who studied the issue. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2567903478-45c

*** U.S. concerned with Iraqi activity

WASHINGTON (AP) - The State Department expressed concern Wednesday
about actions at Iraqi sites that it said are known to be capable
producing weapons of mass destruction and long range ballistic
missiles. Another concern, the department said, is Iraq's
"long-established practice" of acquiring materials that have civilian
uses but also could be used to make powerful weapons. The tests -
eight since as early as May 1999, including one last week - have
involved Al Sambaed, a liquid-fueled ballistic missile that could
carry conventional explosives or the chemical and biological weapons
that Iraq is still suspected of hiding, according to Clinton
administration and military officials. The State Department response
said that in the absence of United Nations inspectors on the ground
in Iraq, uncertainties about the significance of these activities
will persist. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2567897347-3df

*** Interpol needs help on net crimes

PARIS (AP) - Acknowledging international law enforcement's inability
thus far to combat fast-moving Internet crime, Interpol is
considering letting a Silicon Valley security company help it protect
businesses from malicious hackers. If the partnership is reached, it
would be the first time the international police agency has paired
with a private company to fight Net crime, Interpol secretary general
Raymond Kendall told AP. The company, AtomicTangerine of Menlo Park,
Calif., has approached Kendall with an idea to create an "early
warning system" that would help private sector businesses protect
themselves from cyberattacks, he said. In turn, information gathered
by private companies could be made available to Interpol, says
AtomicTangerine, a consultancy that spun off from SRI International,
formerly the Stanford Research Institute. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2567895066-211

*** Gas-powered shoes in Russia

MOSCOW (AP) - His fashion sense isn't as elegant as Gucci's, but
Roman Kunikov says his gasoline-powered boots are a step forward in
footwear - as much as 13 feet per stride. Kunikov is one of the
professors at a Russian engineering institute who designed the boots
that were tested Tuesday in a public square in Ufa, 750 miles
southeast of Moscow. The test showed that wearers can achieve speeds
of up to 25 mph, Kunikov said. The boots incorporate one-foot pistons
that strap along the calf and fire downward after the wearer steps
down, pushing a metal plate away from the bottom of the shoe - and
the wearer up into the air. The shoes weigh about two pounds each,
including a fuel tank, tiny carburetor, spark plug and wires and
pipes. Kunikov said there have not been any accidents so far. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2567894400-ffd

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - UN rapid reaction force House bill
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Thu, 6 Jul 2000 09:26:19 -0400

Thursday, July 6, 2000

                 THE NEW WORLD DISORDER
                 U.N. rapid reaction force
                 House bill pushes for
                 United Nations standing army

By Jon E. Dougherty
=A9 2000 WorldNetDaily.com

                 A measure that would create a United Nations
                 Rapid Reaction Force, calling for the U.S.
                 representative to the U.N. to push for the
                 creation of a 6,000-man force capable of
                 deploying to trouble spots on a moment's
                 notice, has been introduced into the House of
                 Representatives.

                 The bill, HR 4453, titled the
                 "United Nations Rapid
                 Deployment Police and
                 Security Force Act of 2000,"
                 was referred to the House
                 Committee on International
                 Relations May 15. It was
                 sponsored by Rep. James P.
                 McGovern, D-Mass., and to
                 date has garnered 19
                 cosponsors.

                 According to a bill summary, key portions of
                 the measure require the president to direct the
                 U.S. representative to the United Nations to use
                 the voice, vote and influence of the United
                 States to urge the U.N. to:

                      establish a United Nations Rapid
                      Deployment Police and Security Force
                      under the authority of the Security Council
                      that is trained to standardized objectives;

recruit force personnel; and

provide equitable and reliable funding.

                 The bill would require lawmakers to establish
                 clear mission statements as to when, where and
                 how the force would be used, "including when
                 the Security Council determines that an
                 imminent threat to the peace requires a
                 preventive deployment or that ongoing gross
                 violations of human rights or breaches of the
                 peace require rapid intervention."

                 The bill also sets a 6,000-man limit on the
                 number of forces that would constitute such a
                 unit, made up of "volunteers from U.N. member
                 nations who will be deployed only by Security
                 Council resolution."

                 Finally, the measure limits deployments to six
                 months and "requires [the forces'] basing and
                 infrastructure service to be leased from existing
                 member nations' institutions.

                 According to lawmakers, the bill is in response
                 to Presidential Decision Directive 71, which,
                 according to a bill summary, "calls for a stronger
                 United States response to maintaining order in
                 societies recovering from conflict." If passed, the
                 bill would "improve coordination of United
                 States efforts and ... enhance the ability of other
                 countries, the United Nations, and regional
                 organizations to plan, mount, and sustain
                 operations in support of the rule of law."

                 It would not, however, support deployment of a
                 rapid reaction force to an area where "peace has
                 been restored to a region but the rule of law has
                 not yet been reestablished."

                 Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who
                 reportedly favors the bill, said Feb. 24 in
                 response to delayed deployment of
                 U.N.-sponsored police forces to Kosovo, that
                 "present international capabilities are not
                 adequate" to deal with such demands.

                 "In response, we must recognize that old
                 models of peacekeeping don't always meet
                 current challenges," Albright said. "Peace
                 operations today often require skills that are
                 neither strictly military nor strictly police, but
                 rather, a combination of the two.

                 "The international community needs to identify
                 and train units that are able to control crowds,
                 deter vigilante actions, prevent looting and
                 disarm civilian agitators while, at the same time,
                 winning the trust of the communities in which
                 they are deployed," concluded Albright.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan also
supports the rapid reaction force.

                 In his April 2000 report, "We the Peoples: The
                 Role of the United Nations in the 21st Century,"
                 Annan said the process the U.N. implements in
                 launching peacekeeping missions "has
                 sometimes been compared to a volunteer fire
                 department," a description he said was often
                 "too generous."

                 "Every time there is a fire, we must first find fire
                 engines and the funds to run them before we
                 can start dousing any flames," Annan said. "The
                 present system relies almost entirely on
                 last-minute, ad hoc arrangements that guarantee
                 delay, with respect to the provision of civilian
                 personnel even more so than military."

                 The House summary also noted that in "July
                 1999, 4,700 civilian police officers were
                 requested to be deployed to the Serbian
                 province of Kosovo, but as of April 17, 2000, the
                 United Nations has deployed only 2,901 of the
                 requested police officers, resulting in the
                 breakdown of law and order and the escalation
                 of unrest in Kosovo."

                 And legislators supportive of a U.N. rapid
                 reaction force say that in the case of Sierra Leone
                 earlier this year, in Srebrenica, Bosnia, on July
                 11, 1995, and in a few other recent cases,
                 U.N.-backed troops and civilian law personnel
                 have been chased out of their assigned duty
                 areas, sometimes leaving behind equipment
                 and supplies, stolen and used by warring
                 factions.

                 Lawmakers also complain that U.N.-sponsored
                 peacekeeping missions are staffed, almost by
                 design, by "undertrained" personnel, and that
                 such missions are routinely "understaffed."

                 Though the measure states that Congress and
                 the U.S. government would retain the right to
                 back out of any U.N. Security Council decision
                 to undertake peacekeeping missions "not in the
                 interests of the United States," critics worry
                 nonetheless that U.S. interests could too easily
                 be undermined by a supranational world body
                 with no accountability to the American people.

                 The measure will likely face stiff opposition in
                 the Senate, where it would ultimately end up at
                 the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,
                 chaired by vehement U.N. critic Sen. Jesse
                 Helms, R-N.C.

                 In a speech to the U.N. Security Council in
                 Washington, D.C., on March 30, Helms offered
                 to work with the U.N. to improve the U.S.-U.N.
                 relationship, but said, "others want the U.N. to
                 travel down a very different path" anathema to
                 U.S. national interests.

                 "They envision a United Nations which has the
                 sole authority to legitimize the use of force, and
                 to insist on the authority to sit in judgment of
                 the foreign policy decisions of the United
                 States," said Helms. "They are pressing for an
                 International Criminal Court that purports to
                 hold American citizens under its jurisdiction,
                 even if the United States has neither signed nor
                 ratified the treaty. They see the U.N. as the
                 central authority of the new international order
                 of global laws and global governance."

                 Helms added, "Improved U.S. relations with a
                 U.N. that travels down this path will be difficult,
                 if not impossible."

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_dougherty/20000706_xnjdo_un_rapid_r
.shtml

via: Third_Watch@egroups.com

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Who polices the U.N. police?
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Thu, 6 Jul 2000 09:31:31 -0400

February 2, 2000

Who polices the U.N. police?

By Mary Jo Anderson
=A9 2000 Mary Jo Anderson

                 Reports of transgressions perpetrated by the
                 United Nations are routine, from Peru to East
                 Timor to Kosovo. Not a day ticks by that some
                 new story doesn't surface detailing the United
                 Nations' mishandling of operations or outright
                 abuse. Typically these assaults present
                 themselves as peacekeeping interventions,
                 humanitarian aid, education or human rights
                 enforcement. Thus far the United Nations has
                 escaped official sanction. That may soon change.

                 Suit has been filed on behalf of two Rwandan
                 women who charge the United Nations with
                 complicity in the 1994 genocidal massacre of
                 800,000 Tutsi people, approximately 75 percent
                 of Rwanda's population. The suit is the first
                 ever in the history of the United Nations. As
                 countries move toward ratification of the
                 International Criminal Court (ICC) treaty with
                 its sweeping powers to indict individuals and
                 nations, this suit raises a grave question: who
                 will police the United Nations' police?

                 According to a Jan. 11 story carried by
                 Independent News (UK), the Rwandan women
                 are represented by Michael Hourigan, who has
                 resigned from his position with the U.N.'s
                 International Criminal Tribunal. Hourigan, a
                 former South Australian crown prosecutor
                 working in Kigali, became frustrated by
                 attempts to block his official investigation of the
                 Hutu assault on the Tutsis. He is joined in the
                 suit by Geoffrey Robertson, an Australian
                 human rights attorney. The Independent
                 reports, "The women -- the widow of a former
                 Rwandan Supreme Court judge and the sister of
                 a Tutsi former cabinet minister -- accuse U.N.
                 soldiers who were meant to defend their
                 families of either handing them over to their
                 killers or running away." Hourigan, interviewed
                 by Melbourne Age, noted the murders were
                 "caused by the cowardice, negligence and
                 bungling of U.N. forces."

                 The suit comes on the heels of an internal
                 investigation of the U.N.'s activity during
                 Rwandan conflict. Chaired by former Swedish
                 Prime Minister, Ingyar Carlsson, the assessment
                 panel concluded that the U.N. peacekeeping
                 forces in Rwanda failed to respond to reports of
                 genocide. One of the plaintiffs, Anonciata
                 Kavaruganda, widow of Rwandan Supreme
                 Court judge, Joseph Kavaruganda, claims her
                 husband was murdered "because he
                 sympathized with the Tutsis." According to the
                 Independent, Kavaruganda reports that "U.N.
                 troops from Ghana, responsible for protecting
                 her family, drank and socialized with Hutus
                 while she and her children were being tortured."

                 Rony Braunam, former president of Doctors
                 Without Borders, confirmed the failure of the
                 peacekeeping efforts. His group reported: "The
                 humanitarian intervention, far from
                 representing a bulwark against evil, was in fact
                 one of its appendages. ... The social and
                 political role of humanitarian aid was simply to
                 state-manage goodwill, to organize the
                 spectacle of compassion."

                 U.N. secretary general, Kofi Annan conceded
                 with "deep remorse" that the U.N. had failed to
                 respond appropriately to the genocide. Annan
                 was head of U.N. peacekeeping operations at
                 the time of the Rwandan massacre. According to
                 the Sydney Morning Herald, documents
                 indicate Annan ignored warnings of genocide
                 sent to the U.N.'s New York Headquarters by
                 U.N. commander in Rwanda, General Romeo
                 Dallaire of Canada. The cables Dallaire sent
                 under "most immediate" status just three days
                 before the General Assembly met to discuss the
                 crisis in Rwanda were not made available to the
                 Assembly. Documents given to Melbourne Age
                 include cables that requested additional troops
                 and insisted U.N. troops would stand by as
                 Tutsis were handed over "for inevitable killing
                 rather than use their weapons to save local
                 people," and that government controlled radio
                 was "exhorting the population to destroy all
                 Tutsis." Annan did not forward the cabled
                 information to the U.N. Security Council.

                 This suit and similar events serve as stark
                 reminders that the U.N. and its agencies are not
                 infallible or even consistently trustworthy.
                 Credible voices have presented evidence of a
                 distinct U.N. agenda at odds with many
                 American legal traditions and cultural values.
                 The International Criminal Court treaty is
                 awaiting ratification by the nations. It places
                 foreign judges, with no particular allegiance to
                 the American Constitution, over American
                 citizens. Recall the 1997 report to the U.N.
                 Human Rights Commission written by the
                 committee's "special rapporteur," that decried
                 the "arbitrary" use of capital punishment in the
                 U.S. Once the ICC is ratified, pressure on the
                 United States to conform to world judicial
                 norms set by the United Nations will increase.

                 Sober questions must be posed to all nations
                 before they yield sovereignty in exchange for
                 both a United Nations global peacekeeping
                 force and its global tribunal, the International
                 Criminal Court (ICC).

                 There is no restraining mechanism to check
                 abuse of these proposed planetary powers.
                 While cautious voices debate the merits of the
                 U.N. as the world's peacekeeping body, and the
                 proper jurisdiction of the ICC, pro-globalist
                 forces such as the World Civil Society
                 Conference push tirelessly to establish
                 "conditions for global governance," including a
                 world police force. The balance tips in their
                 favor: Kofi Annan, now U.N. General Secretary,
                 in his keynote address to WOCSOC in
                 December, referred to the organization as
                 representative of "global people power" and
                 implored them to agitate governments when
                 they "are unwilling to act."

                 Annan's remarks are the prelude to the
                 Millennium Forum at the United Nations in
                 May. Forces within the inner circle of U.N. and
                 Non-Governmental Organizations are poised to
                 present a "People's Assembly" to join the United
                 Nations. (NGO's are non elected, non
                 accountable lobbying groups -- many funded by
                 corporate foundations.) This People's Assembly
                 was also referred to as a "Parliament of
                 Humankind" during the State of the World
                 Forum in San Francisco in October. The State of
                 the World Forum, a creation of Mikhail
                 Gorbachev, drew the world's liberal glitterati to
                 a posh six-day confab where world governance,
                 as an expansion of the U.N. and a "global means
                 of enforcement," was touted at a session led by
                 the World Federalist Association.

                 Each year the State of the World Forum gathers
                 marquee names from the ranks of Nobel
                 laureates, ambassadors, politicians, actors, and
                 even a psychic or two. Past speakers have
                 included Ted Turner, Desmond Tutu, Earth
                 Council president, Maurice Strong, David
                 Rockefeller, Queen Noor of Jordan, John
                 Naisbitt, Jane Goodall, Carl Sagan, the witch
                 "Starhawk and a covey of U.S. congressmen. Yet,
                 despite the prophecy of Infoseek CEO, Steve
                 Kirsch, the nude parade of Patch Adams and
                 Helen Caldecott, the cosmic healing advice of
                 Deepak Chopra or the posturing of Jesse
                 Jackson, not a whisper of this year's Forum was
                 heard from the major networks.

                 The media blackout left unreported such
                 roundtable sessions as, "The United Nations in
                 Ten years; The United Nations in One Hundred
                 Years," which conceded that the U.N. was only a
                 foundation for the world federation which
                 would require a voluntary army to "deter
                 human rights abuses." The moderator, Tad
                 Daly, director of Global Security Programs for
                 the State of the World Forum, was joined by
                 retired senator Alan Cranston and Tom Spencer,
                 chairman of the Foreign Affairs Security and
                 Defense Policy Committee of the European
                 Parliament. Participants advocated abolishing
                 the veto power of the U.N. Security Council -- a
                 dated mechanism favoring the winners of World
                 War II -- adopting instead a "Parliament of
                 Humankind." World peace was possible if a
                 "planetary patriotism" for the "Federal Republic
                 of Earth" supplanted nationalism. Far removed
                 from open public debate, these planetary
                 patriots proposed a restructured U.N.: The
                 General Assembly should abandon the one
                 country one vote system in favor of a weighted
                 voting process. This proposal would provide an
                 "equitable sharing of power" among the more
                 populous nations such as China and India.

                 Do Americans believe it wise to permit a greater
                 share of U.N. deliberative power to accrue to
                 Communist China than to the United States?
                 Does anyone believe such a provision would
                 increase world peace?

                 Two days after the State of the World Forum
                 closed at the glitzy Fairmont of San Francisco,
                 president Clinton stood before the Forum of
                 Federations inaugural conference at Chateau
                 Mont-Tremblant, in Canada. He said, "... I see
                 the whole concept of federalism emerging
                 internationally. ..." Clinton claimed the U.S. was
                 working to "redefine federalism for the 21st
                 century." Careful to make a limited concession
                 to sovereignty, Clinton admitted there were no
                 easy answers for arranging powers to protect
                 the responsibilities of member states. In other
                 words, there are no guarantees that nations will
                 be allowed to meet their responsibilities to
                 defend and protect their citizens. He noted, "...
                 We become more of a federalist world when the
                 United Nations takes a more active role in
                 stopping genocide."

                 The genocide complicity suit filed against the
                 U.N. on behalf of the two Rwandan women
                 bears close scrutiny. Since the "federalist world"
                 the global elites envision for us is about as
                 likely to protect certain ethnic populations or
                 political groups as Kofi Annan's troops were in
                 protecting the Tutsis from genocide, the
                 question remains: If we forfeit sovereignty with
                 the advent of global governance, who polices
                 the "peacekeepers"?

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_excomm/20000202_xex_who_polices_
.shtml

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - REAL WORLD NEWS 07/06/2000
From: bpr-list@philologos.org
Date: Thu, 06 Jul 2000 11:04:13 -0500

Selected items from

REAL WORLD NEWS 07/06/2000

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

BARAK FACES REVOLT OVER MID-EAST SUMMIT
The Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Barak, is facing a government
rebellion following President Clinton's call for a three-way Middle
East
peace summit next week. Israel's Interior Minister Nathan Sharansky,
whose Russian-immigrant party has four seats in the parliament, said
he
would leave the government in protest because Mr Barak did not have
his
country's backing. The National Religious Party, which has five seats,
has also said it may pull out.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/middle_east/newsid_821000/82143
9.
stm

HOUSE BILL PUSHES FOR UNITED NATIONS STANDING ARMY
A measure that would create a United Nations Rapid Reaction Force,
calling for the U.S. representative to the U.N. to push for the
creation of a 6,000-man force capable of deploying to trouble spots
on a
moment's notice, has been introduced into the House of
Representatives.
The bill would establish a United Nations Rapid Deployment Police and
Security Force under the authority of the Security Council that is
trained to standardized objectives, recruit force personnel, and
provide
equitable and reliable funding.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_dougherty/20000706_xnjdo_un_rapid
_r
shtml

LAWYERS ARGUE APES SHOULD HAVE SAME RIGHTS AS HUMANS
Anyone who's been to the zoo knows orangutans, gorillas and other
great apes are intelligent, playful and sometimes act like people.
But now a team of lawyers is trying to prove apes should have the
same rights as their evolutionary cousins - Homo Sapiens. Being a
person "is a legal term," said Steve Ann Chambers, a Seattle-based
attorney who's also the president of the Animal Legal Defense Fund.
Legal "personhood," adds Chambers, would protect great apes from
confinement, torture and needless death.
http://foxnews.com/national/070500/apes_fnc.sml

STINGING JELLYFISH PLAGUE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA BEACHES
Jellyfish have suddenly appeared in large numbers along the Los
Angeles County coast, stinging swimmers during the long July Fourth
holiday. It's been about 25 years since so many jellyfish invaded the
stretch of coast. County lifeguards have been given supplies of
vinegar
to treat the painful stings and instructions on how to handle the
injuries.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/calreport/calrep_story.cgi?N346.HTML

REPORT: ARAFAT OFFERED 94% OF WEST BANK
Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat agreed to tone down
his rhetoric and attend next month's summit after receiving a
package of Israeli proposals for the final-status agreement.
Quoting sources close to the Palestinian leadership, the
London-based daily Al-Quds al-Arabi said the Israeli package,
offered via Washington, included an offer to hand over 94 percent
of the West Bank to full Palestinian control.
http://www.jpost.com/Editions/2000/07/06/News/News.9226.html

IRAN'S KHAMENEI ORDERS HIZBULLAH TO ATTACK ISRAEL
Iran is urging Hizbullah to continue attacks on Israel. Iran's
supreme leader Ali Khamenei told Hizbullah secretary-general Hassan
Nasrallah on Wednesday that his group must continue its military
campaign against Israel until what he termed the liberation of
Palestine. The Iranian leader pledged what he described as Teheran's
full support for the effort. http://www.worldtribune.com/tout-6.html

BARAK ALLOWS MUSLIM WRECKING OF TEMPLE MOUNT
Several days after holding an emergency session to address reports
of the Islamic Waqf's careless destruction of Jewish antiquities on
the
Temple Mount in order to expand facilities for Muslim prayer, it has
clearly emerged that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak has refused to
order a halt to the illegal construction activity.
http://www.lifelinenews.net/jonline/j-online1/j-online1.html

PALESTINIAN ATTACKS AIM TO DRIVE JEWS OUT OF GAZA
An IDF patrol near the Rafiah crossing into Egypt escaped harm from a
coordinated roadside bomb and gunfire attack early on Monday morning,
in
the latest instance of an escalating campaign of violence against any
Jewish presence in Gaza.
http://www.virtualholyland.com/channels/israel_n/icej.htm

NETANYAHU'S RETURN DEBATED
The possible return of Binyamin Netanyahu to Israeli politics
continues to be the subject of lively discussion - especially in
light of a recent poll showing a hefty lead for the former Prime
Minister over the incumbent Ehud Barak.
http://www.virtualholyland.com/channels/israel_n/arutz2.htm

ECHELON FEEDS U.S. INTELLIGENCE ON EUROPE
The American electronic surveillance system Echelon, currently
under investigation by French prosecutors, is widely suspected of
being deployed around the world, and particularly in Europe, as an
instrument of economic espionage. The European parliament voted
Wednesday to set up an ad hoc committee to examine the issues
raised by Echelon, but moves to set up a full committee of inquiry
foundered on mainly British opposition.
http://asia.dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/world/article.html?s=asia/he
ad
lines/000705/world/afp/The_air_has_ears__Echelon_feeds_US_intelligence
_o
n_Europe.html

FLOODING KILLS 410 DURING CHINA'S RAINY SEASON
Flooding has left more than 410 people dead in the opening weeks of
China's annual rainy season, the official China Daily newspaper
reported
Thursday. Local governments were being warned to prepare for even more
floods. In the latest catastrophe, torrential rains washed away a
mountainside, killing ten people in Dazhou city, Sichuan province, the
newspaper said. It added that the rains damaged 110,000 houses,
86,500
acres of crops and 55 miles of roads, causing losses of $16 million.
http://www.nandotimes.com/global/story/0,1024,500224859-500322797-5018
24
977-0,00.html

NOW STARRING... JESUS OF BETHLEHEM
Who can beat Millionaire in network TV ratings? Jesus can. Want to
sell your magazine, TV series or movie? Make Jesus the star.
Jesus, the CBS miniseries, was the first program all season to
defeat ABC's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Jesus has been on TV a
lot lately, from the miniseries to a claymation show that aired on
Easter Sunday. Why this growing interest in Jesus? According to
Roy Anker, a professor at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich.,
the entertainment industry is looking for new ideas that will
capitalize on America's persistent interest in religion.
http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/070500/jesus_sells.sml

CHRISTIANS BRUSH ASIDE DEATH THREATS FROM KIDNAPPERS
Death threats against 13 Christian preachers from their Muslim
extremist captors are not a concern as the evangelists are
confident God will protect them, a member of the Christian ministry
said
Thursday. The kidnapped head of the Jesus Miracle Crusade, fiery
televangelist Wilde Almeda, particularly has special powers that will
protect him from bullets, said Robert Chua, a member of the group.
Chua, speaking in Jolo town while awaiting the return of his 13 fellow
preachers from the guerilla camp, said: "Our strong faith in God will
save us from danger."
http://asia.dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/asia/article.html?s=asia/hea
dl
ines/000706/asia/afp/Christian_group_brushes_aside_death_threat_from_k
id
nappers.html

A BRIEF HISTORY OF DESIGN
For over two millennia, people have argued that the ‘design� in
nature points to a Designer. In 44 BC, the Roman writer, orator and
statesman, Cicero (106-43 BC), used this concept in his book "De
Natura
Deorum (On the Nature of the Gods)" to challenge the evolutionary
ideas
of the philosophers of his day.
http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/magazines/docs/v22n2p50.asp

THE BARAK PLAN: LETHAL DANGER TO THE STATE OF ISRAEL
Many of the state's citizens are fooling themselves that Barak's
program only endangers residents living in Yesha (Judea, Samaria
and Gaza). However, as opposed to the accepted opinion, the
program encompasses a real and serious danger to the existence of
the State of Israel. Commentary by Moshe Hagar, Former Colonel of
the IDF.
http://www.watch.org/showart.php3?idx=8188&rtn=/articles.html&showsubj
=1
&mcat=1

WAR OF WORDS OVER ‘THE PATRIOT�
In 1996, when director Roland Emmerich made his last Fourth of July
spectacular, "Independence Day," both presidential candidates endorsed
his film. But that was science fiction. His latest film, "The Patriot"
is about the founding of our nation and some of it rubs politically
correct elites so raw that they slapped an 'R' rating on it for
portraying children defending themselves with guns.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/428878.asp

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Commentary: Wye Camp David? by Gary M. Cooperberg
From: bpr-list@philologos.org
Date: Thu, 06 Jul 2000 11:08:39 -0500

via: freemanlist@lists.io.com

A Voice from Hebron
by Gary M. Cooperberg
Wye Camp David?
July 6, 2000
3 Tammuz 5760

President Clinton, with his inimitable style and charm,
nobly announced his decision to convene a summit meeting
next week at Camp David with Arafat and Barak. He stated
his assumption that, "If the parties do not seize this
moment, if they cannot make progress now, there will be
more hostility and more bitterness, perhaps even more
violence, and to what end? Eventually, after more bloodshed
and tears, they will have to come back to the negotiating
table. They will have to return to face the same history,
the same geography, the same demographic trends, the same
passions, and the same hatreds, and, I am sure, the exact
same choices that confront them here and now."

The President is dead wrong. First of all there is no
possibility that any compromise will be reached. We are
dealing with conflicting ideology, with two parties
claiming exclusive rights to the same land. We are
definitely heading toward not only more violence, bloodshed
and tears, but to a very real and terrible war. War is
something that should be avoided if possible. But
sometimes it is not possible. That is the nature of
Mankind. Even the United States entered into wars, not
because it was good, rather because there was no choice.
And there is no choice now.

While our "ethical" President proclaims such lofty values,
he deliberately ignores bitter reality. The PLO is not an
equal partner in negotiations with a fellow nation. It is
an overblown band of thugs whose sole purpose for existence
is to destroy the Jewish State. No Jewish leader or
government has the moral right to negotiate our homeland
with anyone, much less with a gang of terrorists.

The President of the United States is not a stupid man.
He knows what Arafat is, and he is well aware of the
Islamic goal to destroy the Jewish State. He is an
outright liar when he says, "The Israeli and the
Palestinian people have leaders now who are visionary
enough, courageous enough, capable of building a fair,
just, and lasting peace." That sounds real nice, but it is
based upon nothing but words of a good speech writer. No
one on the planet has yet built a just and lasting peace
anywhere. What makes him think that Barak and Arafat can
do what no two Arab nations have yet accomplished among
their own people?

Clinton is a master of doubletalk and he really makes an
impression when he speaks. But if we just scratch the
surface and analyze his remarks it is easy to see the
demagoguery. Look at how the President describes his view
of peace - "a peace that can fulfill the Israeli people's
quest for security, for recognition, for genuine
reconciliation with the Palestinians, and genuine
acceptance in the region --acceptance in deeds, as well as
words; a peace that can fulfill the Palestinian people's
legitimate aspirations to determine their destiny on their
own land. . ."

What is the Israeli people's quest? Certainly we want
security, but that only comes from having a strong army and
defensible borders. Recognition will result from accepting
our role and maintaining our dignity and self-respect,
certainly not by retreating from our obligations. And what
about "genuine reconciliation with the 'Palestinians'"?
Should we perhaps apologize for existing? What exactly
does the President feel we need to reconcile with these
murderers?

And then he has the nerve to suggest that the PLO has a
legitimate right to determine their own destiny in my
homeland and to take it from me and call it theirs!!! This
is a contradiction in terms and Clinton knows it. This is
a clear call on the part of the President of the United
States for the Jewish State to surrender to the PLO!!!!
And it is an outrageous overstepping of his bounds as an
alleged impartial mediator. I never expected much from the
likes of Clinton, but my real problem is that Barak should
also realize what he is heading for.

The end of the line in this process is only war. Like it
or not, that is the only way the differences of the parties
will be resolved. Either we will destroy the PLO or they
will destroy us. It is not nice, but it is honest. Thus
being the case, it makes no sense for Barak to go to
Washington, any more than it made sense for Netanyahu to go
to Wye. The bottom line is that Israel has nothing to gain,
and much to lose by participating in a fraud which lends
credence to the claim of our enemies that all or part of
Israel really belongs to them. Just by going to such a
meeting is an act of surrender which will have perilous
consequences for the Jewish State.

Barak may have been elected by the people, but that does
not give him the right to arbitrarily surrender to our
enemies. It is clear that at the present he does not enjoy
the support he assumes that he had when he was first
elected. It is nothing short of arrogance that sees him
presuming to have the backing of the Israeli people to
attend Clinton's farewell party which will find him cutting
up the Jewish State rather than a cake.

To subscribe or unsubscribe to "A Voice from Hebron" visit
our website at: http://www.voicefromhebron.com and click on
"subscribe" for easy instructions.

Your comments are always welcome.

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - The pen is mightier than the computer
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Thu, 6 Jul 2000 12:28:10 -0400

                            Wednesday, July 5, 2000

                JAPAN TODAY

The pen is mightier than
the computer

CHRIS BETROS

                In a bold move away from today's computer-literate
                society, the local government in the city of Hirata in
                western Japan has decided to adopt a weekly
                "computer-free day" in all its offices.

Starting on Friday, all official documents, proposals and
correspondence will be required to be written by hand.

                The move, said Hirata Mayor Mitsuyasu Ota, was
                intended to show staff how important it is to be able to
                do one's work without becoming addicted to
                computers.

                "I know that next Friday is short notice to implement the
                computer-free day," Mr Ota said. "And there will
                probably be a lot of confusion in carrying out daily office
                tasks. But I want to give it a go. Despite administration
                being human-contact work, there are a lot of young staff
                who mistakenly think that they are working by just
                sitting at their keyboards all day long.

                "Young people are not in the habit of writing by hand
                anymore. It's important to put a bit of effort into writing.
                Documents or letters composed on word processors
                often have a lot of incorrect or missing characters."

                Although the mayor is an avid computer user, he
                admitted he had begun to rely too much on it, which
                prompted him to suggest the computer-free day.

                But the sudden directive has not been popular among
                young staff, who claim work will certainly be left undone
                as a result or held over until a "computer day". Hirata
                City staff share 244 computers between 250 employees
                - almost one per person. More than 90 per cent of draft
                proposals and other official documents are produced on
                word processors or computers.

"Writing by hand is inefficient and it wastes paper,"
grumbled one employee.

                The Ministry of Home Affairs, which has been aiming
                for increased efficiency in its offices at the national level,
                will be closely monitoring the Hirata experiment. "We
                don't know how efficient a computer-free day will be,
                but in the end, the decision comes down to each local
                government," a ministry spokesman said. "Somehow,
                though, I don't think it'll catch on. There's a whole
                generation of people who have grown up almost never
                having had to write anything by hand. And when they do
                try and write, it's almost an illegible scrawl."

http://www.worldtribune.com/photo-tease-front.html

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - (Fwd) Arutz-7 News: Thursday, July 6, 2000
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Thu, 6 Jul 2000 12:28:37 -0400

------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date sent: Thu, 06 Jul 2000 18:26:58 +0300
To: arutz-7@arutzsheva.org
From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@IsraelNationalNews.com>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Thursday, July 6, 2000
Send reply to: netnews@a7.org

Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Thursday, July 6, 2000 / Tammuz 3, 5760
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TODAY'S HEADLINES:
  1. SUMMIT IS ON
  2. YISRAEL B'ALIYAH AND NRP ARE OUT
  3. YESHA COUNCIL ERUPTS
  4. BARAK PASSES RESPONSIBILITY TO SETTLERS
  5. PROSECUTORS RECOMMEND: DON'T INDICT NETANYAHU
  6. EDWARD SAID PARTICIPATES IN LEBANESE INTIFADA
  7. SUCCESSFUL WOMEN'S SEMINAR
  8. PALESTINIANS DON'T TRUST LEADERS
  9. SUSPICIOUS DEATH
  10. OFRAH CELEBRATES ANNIVERSARY
***SPECIAL INSERT: Interview excerpts with MK Yuli Edelstein

1. SUMMIT IS ON
Prime Minister Ehud Barak estimates the upcoming Camp David summit's
chances of success as slightly higher than 50%. Justice Minister Yossi
Beilin says that "never before have the Israeli and Palestinian positions
been so close," while Foreign Minister David Levy said today that the gaps
are "great," and that "the Palestinians are unwilling to compromise." In
Barak's opinion, "The summit will be considered a success if the
Palestinians declare that their dispute with Israel has ended... If it
does not succeed, the situation will be worse=85 there will be bloodshed=85="
It is not clear whether Barak is still hoping to reach a final-status
agreement, or whether he will settle for an interim framework agreement
with Yasser Arafat.

Following U.S. President Clinton's announcement yesterday that the
Barak-Arafat summit would be held early next week, Palestinian officials
continued to repeat their unyielding positions: the full return of all
Arab "refugees," the dismantling of all Yesha settlements, and the division
of Jerusalem. Arutz-7's Haggai Huberman reports that these are not merely
opening positions, but represent the Palestinians' determined stance.
Other Palestinian reactions to the summit:
* Abu Ala foresees its failure "because Washington leans towards Israel.
The only reason the summit was convened was because of Israeli pressure."
* Nabil Shaath said that the Palestinians, in any event, will not change
their minds about declaring a state two months from now.

Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh met last night with Arafat in
Ramallah. They discussed issues such as water rights, electricity, the
Palestinian port in Gaza; nothing was agreed upon, reports Huberman. He
added that the PA officials he spoke with do not understand the Israeli
optimism regarding the summit, and insist that the gaps between the sides
are still great: "The Palestinians have not changed their positions one
bit - although this doesn't mean that the gaps haven't been narrowed. The
sides are in fact now closer together - because Barak has come towards the
Palestinians on many issues."

2. YISRAEL B'ALIYAH AND NRP ARE OUT
Interior Minister Natan Sharansky announced last night that his party,
Yisrael B'Aliyah, will resign from the coalition this Sunday. He spoke at
a rally of close to 20,000 new immigrants, who gathered in Jerusalem's
Safra Square to protest Barak's intentions to abandon Judea, Samaria, Gaza,
and the Jordan Valley. MK Yuli Edelstein (Yisrael B'Aliyah) told
Arutz-7's Ron Meir that this was the largest gathering ever of new
immigrants in Israel.

National Religious Party leader Housing Minister Rabbi Yitzchak Levy said
today that he and Deputy Minister Sha'ul Yahalom will resign from the
government on Monday. In a Knesset faction meeting on the topic today, MKs
Langental and Orlev argued, unsuccessfully, that if the summit fails, the
party's resignation from the coalition will have been in vain. Rabbi Levy
countered that in any event, Barak will attempt to carry out his
concessions to the Palestinians - concessions that are unacceptable to the
party. The party's resignation must be ratified by the party's Central
Committee this Sunday.

The Likud is convening today to decide its reaction. Opposition leader
Ariel Sharon said that his party would "under no circumstances join a
government that is about to give up almost all of Judea and Samaria and the
Jordan Valley." Sharon also said that IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Sha'ul
Mofaz must refrain from making "political statements," such as his remarks
of yesterday to the effect that "if the Camp David summit fails, a violent
clash is liable to erupt."

Absorption Minister Yuli Tamir (One Israel) sees Barak's declarations - a
united Jerusalem, 80% of the settlers under Israeli control, settlement
blocs, etc. - as merely his "opening positions," and that it is likely that
he will further compromise in the course of the summit negotiations. When
asked if she agrees with the right-wing spokesmen who say that Barak will
"cave in," she said, "Your terminology is strange. When people negotiate
the sale of an apartment, we don't talk about one side 'caving in,' but
rather that they negotiate together and reach an agreement." She basically
admitted that Barak's plan, as intimated yesterday by his "nine ministers"
remark ["I will continue even if only nine ministers remain in my
government and only 1/4 of the Knesset supports me"], is to sign an
agreement with Arafat, even without the support of the Knesset, and then go
straight to the public with a referendum, "just as the nationalist camp
always wanted."

3. YESHA COUNCIL ERUPTS
The Yesha Council decided last night to implement a contingency plan of
unprecedented protest against the planned withdrawal. All Yesha residents
are asked to take two or three days off from work in order to participate.
The plan will include the largest-ever protest rally in Tel Aviv on Sunday,
July 16; mass hunger strikes; protest convoys on the roads; and the manning
of all major intersections. Mayors and town councils throughout Yesha are
asked to clear their schedules and work exclusively on behalf of the
struggle.

Left-wing organizations are preparing a rally of support for Ehud Barak, to
be held Saturday night, July 15.

A group of protestors staged a rally outside the home of Shas Minister Eli
Yeshai in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Nof today. They called upon
him to "preserve Eretz Yisrael."

4. BARAK PASSES RESPONSIBILITY TO SETTLERS
Prime Minister Barak objects to the Yesha Council campaign portraying him
as "splitting the nation," "losing the nation," and "abandoning fellow
citizens." He told Voice of Israel Radio today:
"Who is really splitting the nation? The one doing the splitting is
someone who takes his vision - which I respect - a vision in which even I
am a partner from an emotional standpoint - who takes his dream and tries
to impose it on the rest of the nation. He is saying: 'Even if you can
create a situation in which, for the first time since the establishment of
the state, Jerusalem will be recognized as our capital by the whole world,
in which 80% of the residents of Judea and Samaria will be under Israeli
sovereignty, in recognized borders, and which can bring about the end of
the conflict - but because of my dream I want to bring about a situation in
which we continue to kill and be killed, just to remain on a hill that both
he and I are emotionally connected to - this is tearing the nation apart!
I therefore turn to our friends in Judea and Samaria - who are really
wonderful pioneers - and I say: Don't be a barrier to the unity of the
nation."

Zo Artzeinu leader Moshe Feiglin responded to Barak's call to the Yesha
residents: "What I have against Barak is not that he is splitting the
nation, but rather that he is liquidating the nation... and that he is
committing the crime of abandoning tens of thousands of Jews to the mercies
of terrorists."

Likud MK Uzi Landau had harsh criticism of the Prime Minister's policies
today. Speaking with Arutz-7 today, he said, "Barak's concessions not only
signify that he has no red lines, but are actually a withdrawal from
Zionism itself... He is going to Washington for the purpose of making
further concessions, but he doesn't realize that this will not mark the end
of the process, but rather the beginning of a process - it will lead to
more of Arafat's tried-and-true methods of terrorism to get more of what he
wants... The destruction of Israel [and not peace] is Arafat's final goal.."

5. PROSECUTORS RECOMMEND: DON'T INDICT NETANYAHU
The Jerusalem District Attorney's Office recommends that Binyamin Netanyahu
not be indicted in either of the two cases being investigated against him.
Attorney-General Elyakim Rubenstein said that he will make his final
decision within a few days. Netanyahu is scheduled tonight to make his
first public appearance in a long while; he will speak at the 25th
anniversary celebrations of the Binyamin community of Ofrah [see article
below].

6. EDWARD SAID PARTICIPATES IN LEBANESE INTIFADA
Rocks continue to fly from Lebanon into Israel, at the Fatma Gate in
Metullah. An Israeli soldier is hospitalized in moderate condition after
being hit by a rock, and another soldier was lightly injured. The French
News Agency AFP circulated a photograph, taken two days ago, of
American-Arab scholar Edward Said throwing a stone at Israeli soldiers
across the Lebanese-Israeli border.

7. SUCCESSFUL WOMEN'S SEMINAR
The annual two-day convention of the Binyan Shalem Institute concluded
yesterday in Jerusalem with an address by Rishon Letzion Rabbi Mordechai
Eliyahu to the 3,200 women in attendance. As many as six simultaneous
Torah/Jewish lectures were delivered at any given hour on topics such as
marriage and love, self-fulfillment, feminism, communication in marriage,
pre-marriage counseling, equality of the sexes, choosing a spouse, and
more. Among the lecturers were Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, Rabbi Yaakov Ariel,
Rabbi Mordechai Elon, Dr. Chanah Katan, Esther Levanon, Binyan Shalem head
Dana Tirosh, and others. After conducting three such annual seminars for
women, Binyan Shalem now plans a similar one for men.

8. PALESTINIANS DON'T TRUST LEADERS
A recent public opinion poll, conducted by the Jerusalem Media and
Communication Centre (JMCC), found that over 90% of Palestinians feel that
there is still corruption within the Palestinian Authority. The survey,
which polled a random sample of 1200 Palestinian adults, also found that
55% do not trust the methods being used by the Palestinian leadership in
the negotiations with Israel, and over 50% said they are somewhat or
totally not confident in their leadership's "unwavering positions." When
asked which Palestinian figure they trusted the most, Yasser Arafat
received the highest vote - what the pollsters called a "relatively low"
31.8%.

9. SUSPICIOUS DEATH
In Park Canada, near Latrun, the body of an Arab was found this afternoon.
He was apparently killed by a suspicious explosion, reports HaKol
MeHashetach news agency.

10. OFRAH CELEBRATES ANNIVERSARY
On the eve of the Washington summit, the Binyamin community of Ofrah - the
first Gush Emunim settlement - commemorates its 25th anniversary with a
gala celebration tonight. Two years ago, then-opposition leader Ehud Barak
visited the girls' religious high school in Ofrah and declared that, should
he become Prime Minister, "Beit El and Ofrah will be ours forever." Ofrah
Rabbi Avi Gisser was asked today if he finds the memory of that speech
reassuring in light of Barak's recent diplomatic forays. "No, I'm not
reassured," he said. "If we make a tally of this Prime Minister's
statements before and after the elections, including all his promises and
even his good will, we will see that almost nothing has materialized."

News Editor Haggai Segal asked: "Perhaps then, given the situation, it is
not a time for a celebration?"
Rabbi Gisser: "Ofrah is rejoicing over those values that are absolute,
unchanging, while the Prime Minister deals with only temporal reality...
Ofrah rejoices over the eternal values of the return of the
nation to its land, the ingathering of our exiles, the strengthening of
Torah, the joy of settling the Land... Ofrah is celebrating what the people
of Israel dreamed of for thousands of years - 'We were like dreamers.'"

The rabbi added that his community is not merely concerned with its own
fate. "Some of our residents may be led to feel that since we are a large
community, and we seem to be 'on the map,' we will not be harmed - but this
is an unethical, immoral hope. Our sense of mutual responsibility means
that we are concerned about what happens in all corners of Judea, Samaria
and Gaza."

SPECIAL INSERT:
Interview excerpts with MK Yuli Edelstein, #2 man in the Yisrael B'Aliyah
party, which announced that it will quit the government this coming Sunday:

Q. Prime Minister Barak has expressed an emotional call for you and the NRP
to remain in the government. Is there a chance that you will do so?
A. First of all, no, there is no chance, and secondly, I don't know why he
cares if we remain or not. After all, yesterday in London he explained
clearly that even if only nine ministers remain in the government and even
if only 1/4 of the Knesset supports him, he will continue on his diplomatic
path... I think that Barak has not yet internalized the fact that we are a
democracy and not a military regime. He should have made his emotional
calls a year ago by truly cooperating with us - if there had been true
cooperation with us and the NRP and Shas, it could be that we would not
have reached this situation.

Q. Is this decision unanimous among all your Knesset Members and party
activists?
A. Very much so. In fact, it is interesting to note that several months
ago, many of our members said that even though they did not agree with
Barak's policies in Judea and Samaria, the Golan, etc., we must still
remain in the government and Sharansky must remain Minister of the
Interior. Last night, however, at the rally of new immigrants in
Jerusalem, when Sharansky announced that we were leaving the government, he
received such resounding applause, and people were celebrating and wishing
us Mazel Tov - the new immigrant community knows that this government has
reached the end of its line and that we should remain in it no longer.

Hebrew News Editor: Haggai Segal
English News Editor: Hillel Fendel

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========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Senior PA official in Lebanon warns of 'violence and blood'
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Thu, 6 Jul 2000 18:11:56 -0400

Senior PA official in Lebanon warns of 'violence and blood'

                         Weekend News Today
                         By Andra Brack
                         Source: IsraelWire

Thu Jul 6,2000 -- PA bureau chief in Lebanon, Sultan Abu Alaynen, was
quoted on Thursday by the Reuters News Agency as saying if the July 11
Trilateral Camp David summit ends in failure, it will result in the “whole
Middle East region sinking in a wave of violence and blood.'' The senior
official added that although Arafat will attend the summit anticipating
Israel keep its part of the signed accords, he will not be offering
anything. He explained the PA to date has given all it is capable of
giving in the negotiations with Israel. Adopting the position of other
senior PA leaders, Abu Alaynen emphasized there would be no peace in the
region without Jerusalem being declared the capital of a Palestinian state
or an acceptable solution reached regarding the
so-called Palestinian refugees.

http://www.upway.com/cgi/readnews.cgi?day=00_07_6&item=#962909095

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Harpazo News items (7/6/00)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Thu, 6 Jul 2000 18:11:56 -0400

Volcanic Islands Jolted by Quakes
Strong tremors and aftershocks jolted Japan's islands of Kozushima and
Miyakejima in the Izu Islands chain on Wednesday morning, but there were
no reports of injuries or damage from any of the quakes. A magnitude 4.2
earthquake hit Miyakejima Island, located 112 miles south of Tokyo, at 4:49
a.m. local time. It was followed two hours later by a magnitude 4.0 quake.
On Tuesday, a magnitude 5.3 earthquake hit the small Pacific Ocean islands
at 3:53 p.m. The tremor was centered between the islands of Niijima and
Kozushima. Kozushima Island was hit last weekend by a magnitude 6.4
temblor that triggered a number of landslides and killed one person. The
numerous recent tremors are believed to be caused by molten volcanic rock
moving beneath the seabed away from Miyakejima Island. Earth Alert

Montserrat's Residents Prepare for Volcanic Eruption
The Montserrat Volcano Observatory has issued warnings that the island's
Soufriere Hills Volcano may be headed for another round of explosions and
slides similar to the ones that shook the island on March 20. The lava dome
is said to be larger than it was in mid-March, and it has become unstable
due to a mass of molten rock inside the crater. "It's actually marginally larger
than it was before the (last) collapse, so we're probably going to see some
action," said Gill Norton, acting director of the observatory. Islanders have
been advised to have face masks ready in the event that ash falls as a result
of any activity within the mountain. Earth Alert

Typhoon and Tropical Storm Batter the Philippines
At least four people were killed and thousands of others forced to evacuate
their homes on Tuesday as a tropical storm, locally named "Edeng,"
battered the Philippines' main island of Luzon. The storm triggered slides and
flooding and severed power supplies. Edeng hit as tropical storm Kirogi was
moving away from the country's northern tip on its path toward the southern
islands of Japan Giant waves crashed over the seawall along Manila's scenic
Roxas Boulevard, flooding parts of the city and causing traffic jams. Nearly
12,000 residents of low-lying communities surrounding the Subic Bay
Freeport Zone, 50 miles west of Manila had to evacuate their homes that had
become submerged beneath 10 feet of floodwater. Rescuers used rubber
boats to move to victims to higher ground. Kirogu was packing winds of 132
mph as it moved on its northward path approximately 500 miles south-
southeast of Okinawa. Earth Alert

Thunderstorms Slam Tokyo
Violent thunderstorms dumped near-record amounts of rain on eastern Japan
on Tuesday, injuring at least eight people, flooding streets and bringing air
and surface transportation to a halt. Earth Alert

New York: Giant 'Vampire' Rats Terrorize Lower East Side
A scurrying army of cat-sized rats has invaded a housing project on the
Lower East Side, creating what terrified tenants call a "highly dangerous"
health hazard. The insidious infestation began months ago, when
construction workers started tearing up and replacing sewage pipes directly
outside the Baruch Houses at East Houston Street and the FDR Drive.
"These rats are so big, the cats are afraid of them," said resident Morris
Spitzer. "This is a dangerous situation." Spitzer said there are plenty of rats
running around the buildings in broad daylight, but the problem is even worse
at night. "They are like vampires - they come out in droves at night," said
Spitzer, a 40-year-old warehouse supervisor. NY Post

Stinging Jellyfish Plague Southern California Beaches
Jellyfish have suddenly appeared in large numbers along the Los Angeles
County coast, stinging swimmers during the long July Fourth holiday. It's
been about 25 years since so many jellyfish invaded the stretch of coast.
County lifeguards have been given supplies of vinegar to treat the painful
stings and instructions on how to handle the injuries. AP

http://www.harpazo.net/news.html

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