BPR Mailing List Digest: 07/11/00

Philologos
BPR Mailing List Digest
July 11, 2000

Digest Home | 2000 | July, 2000

To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - July 11, 2000 TV Programs
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 08:41:23 -0400

8:00 PM Eastern

PBS - NIAGARA FALLS, A NAKED PLANET SPECIAL - Scientists
use the water source for hydroelectric
power.(CC)(TVPG)

A&E - LONGITUDE (Drama, 2000) -- In 1900s England, naval
          officer Rupert Gould restores 18th-century Briton John
          Harrison's longitude-measuring devices. (240 minutes) (CC)
          (TVPG)(Ends midnight)

DISC - ON THE INSIDE - "Inside Wrestling School" -
Aspiring wrestlers train.(CC)(TVG)

HIST - TERROR IN THE HEARTLAND: THE BLACK LEGION - In the
1930s, a secret organization terrorizes the
Midwest.(CC)(TVPG)

VH1 - ROCKSTORY - "Violence" - Concert riot; Judas
          Priest trial; Ice-T's ``Cop Killer''; James Brown calms crowd
          after Martin Luther King is
          assassinated.(CC)(TVPG)

9:00

PBS - NOVA - "The Beast of Loch Ness" - Scientists
search for the Loch Ness monster in
Scotland.(CC)(TVG)

TLC - BEYOND HUMAN SENSES - Technology pushes the limits of
our senses.(CC)(TVG)

10:00

HIST - THE SUBMARINES - The vessels revolutionize marine
warfare.(CC)(TVG)

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========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Obscenities Becoming Part of Everyday Conversation
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 09:02:07 -0400

Obscenities Becoming Part of Everyday Conversation

Monday, July 10, 2000

By Ed Vogel

MINDEN -- When they hang out in the pizza parlor or at the mall at school,
Douglas High School seniors Megan Morrison, Risa Sullivan and their
friends pepper conversations with words once reserved for drunken sailors.

The teens have no reservations about saying the F-word, the S-word and
most other profanities. In the era of rapper Kid Rock, comedian Chris Rock
and presidential sex scandals, swearing doesn't seem like a big deal to
these teen-agers.

Sullivan received a three-day suspension earlier this year for uttering
the F- word on school grounds. The boy whom she cursed did not complain,
but her invective was heard by nearby teachers.

"My parents laughed about it," Sullivan said. "I just became more careful
about swearing at school. I don't see how one word is bad and another
good. They are just words."

These young women are not social outcasts, but good students bound for
college in the fall. They estimate 99 percent of their fellow students
swear and that girls cuss more than boys.

"Some of our teachers swear," Angela Smith added. "It makes them seem more
at our level."

Some movie fans were surprised to hear actress Julia Roberts utter four-
letter invectives in her recent movie "Erin Brockovich." And anyone who
watches HBO regularly knows comedian Chris Rock's two favorite words are
the F-word and the infamous N-word.

The Center for Media and Public Affairs counted 1,933 instances of
objectionable language in the top 50 grossing movies of 1998.

"If you look at the mass media, then you would conclude it has become more
acceptable to swear today," said Jennifer Greer, a journalism professor at
the University of Nevada, Reno.

Greer, who teaches online reporting classes, says one of the most popular
Web sites among her students is Suck.com.

"We wouldn't have used that word in casual conservations 10 years ago,"
she said. "Now it has moved into the mainstream."

Even politicians use words for which their mothers would have washed their
mouths out with soap a generation ago.

Las Vegas City Councilman Matthew Callister, upset by a two-hour wait in
line when he went to vote in 1996, vented at then Registrar of Voters
Kathryn Ferguson.

"That broad ought to be shitcanned," Callister said.

Always glib Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman likes to say what's on his mind.

Last month he referred to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and others who back
putting nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain as "bastards."

But Gov. Kenny Guinn and former Gov. Bob Miller are members of the old
school. Reporters who cover them regularly do not recall either man using
an off-color word.

Not so with former Assemblyman Pete Ernaut, who worked as Guinn's chief of
staff and now serves as Senate campaign manager for John Ensign.

In one of Guinn's first meetings with the Capitol press corps, Ernaut
casually used the F-word. No one raised an objection.

This most noisome of all curses has been around since 1503. Poets and
scholarly writers used it in the 1600s and 1700s.

Author Mark Twain, who had something to say about everything during his
life, was a happy swearer. Before his death in 1910, Twain vowed: "If I
cannot swear in heaven, I shall not stay there."

UNLV English Professor John Irsfeld contends all the swearing today isn't
reason for alarm.

"I don't think we should get uptight about it," he said. "It is consistent
with the relaxation of a lot of stuff. Go to a funeral and you will see
people in shorts. We started out with dress-down Friday and now we have
dress-down everyday.

"Today the tendency is to be more informal," Irsfeld said. "Tomorrow it
may change and swearing will diminish. I remember when I got out of the
service that I was shocked by the longhaired boys in college. Today if you
go to a freshman class, there are hardly any longhaired kids, but a lot of
people with tattoos."

James O'Connor of Chicago has become the nation's leading critic of coarse
language. He has sold 50,000 copies of his $12.95 "Cuss Control: The
Complete Book on How to Curb Cursing" since its release April 11.

He once was a good swearer, particularly when he was bothered by traffic.

"I had been swearing since I was a kid," O'Connor said in a telephone
interview. "A couple of years ago I got tired of it. I would hear it
walking down the street, in shopping malls and in the movies. I decided I
would stop."

O'Connor acknowledges he cannot get people to stop swearing entirely.
Instead he wants them to watch where they swear.

It's not proper to swear in front of little children or in public places
where people you do not know may hear you.

"You are being abrasive, hostile and displaying a belligerent tone," he
said. "It is not just the words, but the tone behind the words. Too often
people misjudge where they can swear and where they cannot. A tremendous
number of people are offended by swearing."

Through his research, O'Connor has found the F- and S-words and their
various permutations make up two-thirds of all invectives unleashed.
Eliminating those words from the vocabulary solves most of the problem.

Stephen Steinberg, executive director of the Penn National Commission on
Society, Culture and Community, isn't turned off by the swearing as much
as by what it represents -- a lack of civility.

His commission found that too many Americans have lost a sense of
community, the kind that once centered around the church basement and the
union hall. They do not have religion or a cause to give direction to
their lives.

"We aren't going to roll back to the 19th century, so we better think
about the future," he said.

On the other hand, Steinberg does not believe our great-grandparents went
around saying "oh gosh" and "golly" when they were angry.

He pointed to the Michigan jury that last year convicted Timothy Boomer of
violating the state's obscenity law. Boomer was ordered to pay $100 and
perform community service for the nasty words he used that were overheard
by a woman and her children.

"He was convicted under a law passed in 1897," Steinberg said. "Apparently
they had a swearing problem in Michigan in 1897."

But to the seniors at Douglas High School, the talk about swearing leading
to incivility is a load of baloney.

"It's just something you use to express yourself when necessary," Morrison
said. "You blow up and vent."

http://chblue.com/Article.asp?ID=508

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

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Infobeat News items (7/11/00)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 09:11:40 -0400

*** Doctor convicted in drug deaths

FARMINGTON, Utah (AP) - A psychiatrist accused of killing five
elderly patients by prescribing fatal doses of morphine was convicted
Monday of manslaughter and negligent homicide. Robert Weitzel, 44,
was found guilty of two counts of manslaughter and three counts of
negligent homicide. Sentencing was set for Aug. 17, with Weitzel
facing two to 45 years in prison. Weitzel's attorneys argued that the
patients were terminally ill and he was merely trying to ease their
pain in their final moments. Davis County Attorney Mel Wilson told
the jury that Weitzel had a definite "pattern of euthanasia," which
is illegal in Utah, in dealing with five patients who died in a
16-day period beginning in December 1995. He said the doctor
"blasted" four of the five patients with anti-psychotic drugs until
they seemed to be near death, and then administered lethal doses of
morphine. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2568025245-71b

*** Syrians cast ballots for Assad

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - Syrians kissed Bashar Assad's hands and
cheeks, hugged him and smeared voting cards with their blood to show
their loyalty during a nationwide referendum Monday, the last
formality before the former eye doctor succeeds his father as head of
state. The polling, orchestrated by the ruling Baath party, was held
exactly one month after the death of Assad's father Hafez Assad, who
ruled Syria with an iron grip for 30 years. When Bashar Assad takes
office following a swearing-in ceremony July 17, it will be the first
time a son succeeds his father as president in an Arab republic. The
result of the referendum, to be announced Tuesday, is a foregone
conclusion. Like his father, who received between 99.6% and 99.99% of
the ballots in four of five referendums, Bashar Assad is expected to
get overwhelming endorsement from voters. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2568020974-016

*** UN widens 'anti-cybersquat' program

GENEVA (AP) - Pleased with initial success against "cybersquatting,"
a U.N. agency announced Monday it has agreed to expand its
dispute-settlement efforts for the Internet beyond protecting
trademarks and celebrity names. But stopping bad-faith registration
of terms like "Bordeaux" and the antibiotics "ampicillin" and
"tetracycline" in Internet addresses could be more complicated than
curbing misuse of trademarks like Coca-Cola or Microsoft, an official
said. At the request of key governments, including those of the
European Union and the U.S., the World Intellectual Property
Organization said it would conduct a worldwide discussion to find
agreement on what can be done. The results of the consultation - to
be conducted over the Internet - will be disclosed by next July, WIPO
officials said. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2568020307-172

*** Campaign to support family planning

NEW YORK (AP) - One of America's richest foundations launched a
multimillion-dollar education campaign Monday aimed at getting the
American public and the U.S. Congress to support family planning
programs around the world. The five-year campaign, funded by The
David and Lucile Packard Foundation, is backed by leading women's,
children's and environmental groups who say family planning is the
key to saving the lives of mothers, children and planet Earth. The
campaign, which is receiving about $13 million from the Packard
foundation for the first year, plans to deliver several messages in
television, newspaper and magazine advertisements as well as at
meetings with lawmakers. The campaign is also stressing that family
planning could save the lives of some of the 600,000 women who die
every year from complications of pregnancy and childbirth. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2568022510-f36

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - UFO alarm as eerie display spooks Hobart
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 09:15:28 -0400

UFO alarm as eerie display spooks Hobart
By JANE LOVIBOND
11jul00

A FULL-SCALE alien alert went out in Hobart last night as eerie yellow
lights taunted the city's northern suburbs for nearly two hours.

Panic-stricken residents inundated the police, the Tasmanian UFO Centre
and The Mercury with eyewitness reports of the weird, floating spectacle
which initially was passed off as the Antarctic Division's LIDAR laser.

Excited skywatchers refused to be pacified by police and told The Mercury
beams of light were shooting earthward.

Convinced the power source was high in the heavens, they described clouds
illuminated with ghostly and unnerving light.

A motorist claimed the lights nearly caused him to run off the road.

The source of the commotion eventually was traced to a ground-based
phenomenon at Austins Ferry – a night lights extravaganza to mark the
opening of a new performance centre at St Virgil's College.

A skytracker searchlight, which on a clear night can be seen from 100km
away, was hired especially for the occasion.

Anticipating community interest in the sky show, St Virgil's principal
Brother Daryl Barclay asked Hobart radio stations to broadcast details of
the lights to listeners.

The explanatory media release bypassed police radio room staff, leaving
them completely in the dark and unable to calm over-excited callers.

UFO Centre spokesman Keith Roberts said he was baffled by the telephone
queries which started flooding in about 5.30pm.

Mr Roberts dismissed the police explanation of the LIDAR laser on one of
its regular probes into the earth's upper atmosphere.

"It was clearly not the Antarctic Division laser. That is a green light
and certainly not visible from Claremont where my callers were ringing
from," he said.

"I had reliable witnesses talking about lights whizzing about in the
clouds and then there was evidence of ground-based beams of light.

"I knew there had to be a reasonable explanation."

The official opening of the $1 million Joyce Performance Centre proceeded
without incident with the Archbishop of Hobart, the Most Reverend Adrian
Doyle, and Father Michael Tate performing the honours.

For the record, the first major production in the centre, from August 2-4,
won't be Space Odyssey or War of the Worlds but Andrew Lloyd Webber and
Tim Rice's Jesus Christ Superstar.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/forum/skyline.htm

via: Third_Watch@egroups.com

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Agca says Vatican distorted Fatima secrets, plotted against pope
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 09:27:27 -0400

Agca says Vatican distorted Fatima secrets, plotted against pope

ISTANBUL, July 10 (AFP) - Mehmet Ali Agca, the Turk who attempted to kill
Pope John Paul II in 1981, launched a verbal onslaught against the Vatican
on Monday, accusing the Holy See of distorting the secrets of Fatima.

Agca's accusations came in a handwritten statement distributed to the press
by his lawyer after his second court apperance in Turkey following his
extradition from Italy last month.

"The Vatican has changed some of the secrets of Fatima because the
secrets actually predicted that the Vatican would follow the devil, deviate
from true religion and become a political and economic power and that the
cardinals would fight each other," Agca said in the statement.

The secrets of Fatima were revealed to three Portuguese children in a series
of visions of the Virgin Mary at Fatima in Portugal in 1917.

The first two secrets -- referring to God's punishment for mankind's sins, the
need for repentance and a prophesy of Russia's attempt to wipe out religion
under communism -- have long been known, while the last was disclosed by
the pope himself in May.

It predicted "a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows" killing a "bishop
dressed in white", a scene widely interpreted to be the assasination attempt
on the pope.

In Monday's statement, Agca also charged that the Vatican, whose past was
"full of greatest sins and crimes against God and humanity", was behind the
attack on the pope.

"My dear Catholic friends ... why don't you abandon the Vatican which
organized the assasination against its own pope?" Agca said.

"No one should be scared of the Vatican, the devil's centre. I, alone, launch
an international cultural war against the Vatican," he added.

Agca also urged Pope John Paul II to step down and return to Poland.

"You are a good man. Do not sit at the head of the Vatican, which is the
devil's centre and the garbage bin of history. Then work for the abolition of the
papacy which is treachery to the Bible, the Messiah and God," he said in the
statement.

"To believe in the true Bible and the true Messiah is to reject the Vatican,"
he added.

Agca's outburst was unrelated to Monday's hearing of a criminal case
against the gunman over his suspected involvement in a 1979 armed robbery
in a factory in Istanbul.

In the courtroom, the judge united the present case with a second case
against Agca in which he is accused of robbing an Istanbul jewelry shop the
same year.

The 42-year-old Agca, a former member of the far-right Turkish Grey Wolves
movement, denied both charges.

"I did not need money at the time. I would not do such a thing for money," he
said.

"I have dedicated my life to an ideal, a country. I have nothing to do with
these fairy tales."

The judge later adjourned the trial to August 9.

Agca was extradited to Turkey in June upon an Italian pardon for the attack
on the pope for which he served 19 years in an Italian prison.

He now faces 10 years in prison for killing Abdi Ipekci, chief columnist for the
liberal daily Milliyet, in 1979.

He was originally sentenced to death in absentia in 1980 for the murder, but
the death sentence was commuted to 10 years in jail under a 1991
amendment to the anti-terrorist law.

Agca, who is seen as deranged by many and a shrewd operator by others,
has given contradictory testimonies, both on his role in the killing of Ipekci
and in the attack on the pope.

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Futurist FM-2030 Dies, Is Frozen
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 11:46:12 -0400

Futurist FM-2030 Dies, Is Frozen
Associated Press
Last Updated: July 11, 2000 at 6:55:12 a.m.

NEW YORK - A futurist who changed his given name to FM-2030, lectured
about people made wholly from synthetic parts and arranged to have his
body frozen with the hope of being revived in the future, has died at age 69.

His body was flown to Arizona for storage in a vat of liquid nitrogen. It
will be thawed, according to FM-2030's plan, when doctors have a cure for
pancreatic cancer, which was the cause of his death Saturday.

FM-2030, a teacher, author and corporate consultant who lived in Miami, was
launched - his word for born - in 1930. He legally changed his name from
F.M. Esfandiary in the mid-1970s.

He imagined a future of limitless energy and human immortality. In 1977, he
spoke about the correction of genetic flaws and fertilization and gestation
outside the body. In 1980, he wrote about teleconferencing, telemedicine and
teleshopping.

``I am a 21st-century person who was accidentally born into the 20th,'' he
once said.

He was launched in Belgium to an Iranian diplomat and lived in 17 countries
by the time he was 11, fostering his belief that he was a global citizen.

His books about the future include ``Optimism One,'' ``Telespheres'' and
``Are You Transhuman?'' He was revising his ``Countdown to Immortality''
when he became sick.

His body is in a thermos tank at the Alcor Life Extension Foundation in
Scottsdale, Ariz. The foundation, in a news release, said no frozen mammal
has been successfully thawed.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/nat/ap/jul00/ap-obit-fm-2030071100.asp

via: isml@egroups.com

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - FBI's CARNIVORE system to covertly search e-mail
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 11:53:41 -0400

FBI´s system to covertly search e-mail raises privacy, legal issues

By Neil King Jr. and Ted Bridis
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

WASHINGTON, July 11 — The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation is using a
superfast system called Carnivore to covertly search e-mails for messages
from criminal suspects.

ESSENTIALLY A PERSONAL COMPUTER stuffed with specialized
software, Carnivore represents a new twist in the federal government´s
fight to sustain its snooping powers in the Internet age. But in employing
the system, which can scan millions of e-mails a second, the FBI has upset
privacy advocates and some in the computer industry. Experts say the
system opens a thicket of unresolved legal issues and privacy concerns.

The FBI developed the Internet wiretapping system at a special agency lab
at Quantico, Va., and dubbed it Carnivore for its ability to get to “the
meat” of what would otherwise be an enormous quantity of data. FBI
technicians unveiled the system to a roomful of astonished industry
specialists here two weeks ago in order to steer efforts to develop
standardized ways of complying with federal wiretaps. Federal
investigators say they have used Carnivore in fewer than 100 criminal
cases since its launch early last year.

Word of the Carnivore system has disturbed many in the Internet industry
because, when deployed, it must be hooked directly into Internet service
providers´ computer networks.

Word of the Carnivore system has disturbed many in the Internet industry
because, when deployed, it must be hooked directly into Internet service
providers´ computer networks. That would give the government, at least
theoretically, the ability to eavesdrop on all customers´ digital
communications, from e-mail to online banking and Web surfing.

The system also troubles some Internet service providers, who are loath to
see outside software plugged into their systems. In many cases, the FBI
keeps the secret Carnivore computer system in a locked cage on the
provider´s premises, with agents making daily visits to retrieve the data
captured from the provider´s network. But legal challenges to the use of
Carnivore are few, and judges´ rulings remain sealed because of the
secretive nature of the investigations.

Internet wiretaps are conducted only under state or federal judicial
order, and occur relatively infrequently. The huge majority of wiretaps
continue to be the traditional telephone variety, though U.S. officials
say the use of Internet eavesdropping is growing as everyone from drug
dealers to potential terrorists begins to conduct business over the Web.

The FBI defends Carnivore as more precise than Internet wiretap methods
used in the past. The bureau says the system allows investigators to
tailor an intercept operation so they can pluck only the digital traffic
of one person from among the stream of millions of other messages. An
earlier version, aptly code-named Omnivore, could suck in as much as to
six gigabytes of data every hour, but in a less discriminating fashion.

Still, critics contend that Carnivore is open to abuse.

Mark Rasch, a former federal computer-crimes prosecutor, said the nature
of the surveillance by Carnivore raises important privacy questions, since
it analyzes part of every snippet of data traffic that flows past, if only
to determine whether to record it for police.

“It´s the electronic equivalent of listening to everybody´s phone calls to
see if it´s the phone call you should be monitoring,” Mr. Rasch said. “You
develop a tremendous amount of information.”

Others say the technology dramatizes how far the nation´s laws are lagging
behind the technological revolution. “This is a clever way to use old
telephone- era statutes to meet new challenges, but clearly there is too
much latitude in the current law,” said Stewart Baker, a lawyer
specializing in telecommunications and Internet regulatory matters.

Robert Corn-Revere, of the Hogan & Hartson law firm here, represented an
unidentified Internet service provider in one of the few legal fights
against Carnivore. He said his client worried that the FBI would have
access to all the e-mail traffic on its system, raising dire privacy and
security concerns. A federal magistrate ruled against the company early
this year, leaving it no option but to allow the FBI access to its system.

“This is an area in desperate need of clarification from Congress,” said
Mr. Corn-Revere.

“Once the software is applied to the ISP, there´s no check on the system,”
said Rep. Bob Barr (R., Ga.), who sits on a House judiciary subcommittee
for constitutional affairs. “If there´s one word I would use to describe
this, it would be ‘frightening.”´

Marcus Thomas, chief of the FBI´s Cyber Technology Section at Quantico,
said Carnivore represents the bureau´s effort to keep abreast of rapid
changes in Internet communications while still meeting the rigid demands
of federal wiretapping statutes. “This is just a very specialized
sniffer,” he said.

He also noted that criminal and civil penalties prohibit the bureau from
placing unauthorized wiretaps, and any information gleaned in those types
of criminal cases would be thrown out of court. Typical Internet wiretaps
last around 45 days, after which the FBI removes the equipment. Mr. Thomas
said the bureau usually has as many as 20 Carnivore systems on hand, “just
in case.”

FBI experts acknowledge that Carnivore´s monitoring can be stymied with
computer data such as e-mail that is scrambled using powerful encryption
technology. Those messages still can be captured, but law officers trying
to read the contents are “at the mercy of how well it was encrypted,” Mr.
Thomas said.

Most of the criminal cases where the FBI used Carnivore in the past 18
months focused on what the bureau calls “infrastructure protection,” or
the hunt for hackers, though it also was used in counterterrorism and some
drug- trafficking cases.

http://www.msnbc.com/news/431355.asp?cp1=1

via: cyberwar@egroups.com

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - The Oslo Interlude
From: bpr-list@philologos.org
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 13:30:46 -0500

------- Forwarded message follows -------
From: BSaphir@aol.com
Date sent: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 08:32:33 EDT
Subject: The Oslo Interlude By Charles Krauthammer
To: freemanlist@lists.io.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPcap/2000-07/11/038r-071100-idx.
html

The Oslo Interlude

By Charles Krauthammer
Tuesday, July 11, 2000; Page A23

   Why did President Clinton call today's hasty high-risk Camp David
   summit? Some are attributing this to Clinton's hunger for a legacy.
   Hungry he is, but I cannot believe that a president would so trifle
   with American standing in the Middle East for entirely selfish
   reasons.

Why then?

   Because Yasser Arafat had presented Clinton and the world with a
   deadline: On Sept. 13, the Palestinians will unilaterally declare a
   Palestinian state, a rupture of the Oslo peace accords that they
   openly acknowledge may lead to violence, perhaps even war. This
summit is
   being held, quite literally, under the gun.

Why Sept. 13?

Because Arafat has taken the view that the Oslo accords expire on
that day.

   Under the 1993 Oslo peace accords, Israel and the PLO recognized
each
   other, mutually pledged an end to violence and war and laid out a
   multiyear timetable of negotiations. Sept. 13 is the latest in a
   series of target dates for the conclusion of these negotiations.
The
   Palestinians now claim that if there is no final agreement by then,
   they are released from their obligations under Oslo, including the
   prohibition against unilaterally declaring statehood.

   What Westerners do not quite grasp, however, is that for Arafat the
   end of Oslo means not just statehood but a release from the very
core
   of Oslo, the pledge of peace. It marks a return to the pre-Oslo
status of
   belligerency with Israel.

   True, Arafat will not declare war on Day One. He will not send his
   guerrillas back into Israel on Day One. He may not even encourage
the
   mass demonstrations against Israeli settlements that Palestinians
have
   spoken about for Day One, which would inevitably provoke an Israeli
   reaction and rekindle the violence.

   But he and his lieutenants have long talked of looking beyond the
Oslo
   interlude. They speak openly of their expectation of confrontation
and
   violence when they declare independence. Arafat himself has
repeatedly told
   his people that Oslo is but a means to achieve Palestinian goals.
If Oslo
   doesn't get them there, they have other means. His people know
precisely
   what he means by other means.

   This notion of the transient and contingent nature of Oslo is
totally
   contrary to the American understanding. First, because Sept. 13,
like
   the dozens of other negotiating target dates, was never more than
   that: a target date.

   And second, because the whole premise of Oslo was that Israel would
   make irrevocable concessions to the Palestinians in return for a
   single irrevocable change by the Palestinians: a transition from
   conflict to peaceful negotiations.

   Israel has indeed made staggering concessions. It oversaw the
creation of
   the first self-governing authority in Palestinian history; it gave
   international recognition to the PLO and orchestrated the granting
of huge
   amounts of aid; it released hundreds of prisoners, including many
guilty of
   terrorist violence; it gave Arafat control of almost half the West
Bank and
   almost all of Gaza.

   Arafat's strategy from the beginning is now quite clear. He would
   pocket whatever Israel gave, hold out in negotiations for his
   maximalist demands, and, when the target date for their completion
was
   missed, seize the opportunity to declare the whole process over
and to
   resume the struggle with Israel.

   The idea of Oslo not as a new era of peace but an interlude between
   two periods of war will come as a shock to many who witnessed the
   Great Handshake on the White House Lawn seven years ago. It should
   not. Arafat has explicitly analogized Oslo to the 10-year treaty
   Mohammed made with the Quraysh tribe. It too marked an interlude.
Two
   years later, when the tactical necessity had passed, the treaty was
   broken and the Quraysh were attacked and defeated.

   Ehud Barak is coming to Camp David prepared to make huge
concessions.
   He is, for example, ready to redivide control of Jerusalem, after
   declaring it would be Israel's eternal and indivisible capital. He
is, for
   example, ready to give up the largely uninhabited Jordan Valley,
which for
   35 years all parties in Israel had agreed was absolutely necessary
to
   prevent an Arab tank invasion from the east.

   Arafat? He has not moved an inch in his demands: statehood, East
   Jerusalem, 100 percent of the West Bank and the right of return of
   Palestinian refugees (which would swamp Israel demographically and
   instantly destroy the Jewish state). That was Arafat's position in
   September 1993 on the White House lawn. It is his position today
as he goes
   to Camp David.

   In seven years, no change. Why should he? If Arafat holds out for
his
   demands, Oslo will expire, he claims. Then he can pocket his gains,
   declare his state and prepare for the final struggle.

--
Aryeh Koenigsberg
aryeh@telrad.co.il *or*
aryeh.koenigsberg@telrad.co.il
Telrad Telecommunications
Lod, Israel

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

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Weekend News Today items (7/11/00)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 20:45:27 -0400

Russian air force may take over nuclear arms

                         Weekend News Today
                         By Kelly Pagatpatan
                         Source: Reuters

Tue Jul 11,2000 -- Russia's General Staff will urge President Vladimir
Putin and the Defense Ministry to put the country's nuclear weapons under
the command of the air force, Russian news agencies reported Tuesday. If
approved, it would mean the disbanding of one of the key symbols of
Russia's superpower status over the past four decades -- a separate body,
the Strategic Missile Forces, overseeing the world's second biggest
nuclear arsenal. Quoting informed military sources, Interfax news agency
said the proposal would be considered at talks by the military leadership
at the Defense Ministry Wednesday.

"The time frame for a reorganization of Russia's strategic forces may be
decided as early as Wednesday's meeting,", Interfax quoted the sources as
saying. Itar-Tass news agency said Anatoly Kvashnin, head of the General
Staff, sometimes mentioned as a possible successor to Defense Minister
Igor Sergeyev, would deliver the proposal. The sources stressed that the
aim was to increase efficiency and streamline coordination between Russian
military structures. They played down any suggestion that the changes
marked a departure from Russia's defense priorities.

Over the past few years Sergeyev, a former head of the Strategic Missile
Forces, has tended to favor the nuclear deterrent as an umbrella under
which conventional forces could be cut. But the 10-month war in Chechnya
has exposed the weaknesses of Russia"s conventional forces and Putin,
elected in March, has indicated he wants to redress some of the balance.

PA has a army division in Gaza

                         Weekend News Today
                         By Andra Brack
                         Source: IsraelWire

Tue Jul 11,2000 -- Senior officials in Israel´s security establishment
report the PA has a military division (3 brigades) in Gaza, which is
preparing for warfare. The PA in Gaza has outfitted its troops with
anti-aircraft missiles; transport helicopters, heavy and light
machineguns, and armored vehicles. PA forces are preparing for war,
conducting military exercises including simulating overrunning a Jewish
community in Yesha. Officials point out that at least fifty percent of the
military hardware in the PA´s possession is illegal, in violation of the
agreements signed with Israel.

IDF commanders explain that senior PA commanders now operate as
military commanders on a division and brigade level and no longer conduct
themselves in the framework of a police force.

Islamic leaders say no one has right to negotiate away Moslem rights

                         Weekend News Today
                         By Andra Brack
                         Source: IsraelWire

Tue Jul 11,2000 -- Representatives of major American Moslem organizations
said Monday that the sanctity of Jerusalem and its al-Aqsa Mosque, one of
the holiest sites in Islam, is not open to negotiation at the upcoming
Camp David summit.

“No individual or group has the right to sign away Islamic rights in that
city. Any agreement that diminishes Moslem rights in Jerusalem or prevents
refugees from returning to their homes in Palestine would not only be
unworkable but also null and void from an Islamic perspective. Jerusalem
is the city of many prophets of Islam, including David, Solomon, Zacharyah
and Jesus. It is mentioned in the Koran, Islam's revealed text as a city
whose precincts have been blessed by God (Koran 17:1). Prophet Muhammad
(peace be upon him) told Moslems that Jerusalem is one of the three cities
they should visit as a religious pilgrimage. Arabic speakers call
Jerusalem 'al- Quds' ('The Holy'). History shows that Moslem and Christian
religious rights are not safe under an Israeli occupation.

We only need to recall the Israeli police shooting to death 17 Palestinian
civilians who challenged Jewish extremists who sought to lay a
'cornerstone' at the holy sites in 1990, and the Israeli tunnel built near
the foundations of the Haram ash-Sharif ("The Noble Sanctuary"). Since the
start of the peace process in 1993 Israel has maintained a closure of
Jerusalem, stifling free movement, economic development and the freedom of
worship of Palestinian Christians and Moslems from the West Bank.

“We call on all people of faith join in working to create a Jerusalem that
symbolizes religious tolerance and dialogue, not hatred,
exclusion and conflict.”

Israel to release additional terrorists in confidence-building measure

                         Weekend News Today
                         By Andra Brack
                         Source: Arutz-7

Tue Jul 11,2000 -- As Israeli and PA negotiators prepare for the opening
of the Camp David II trilateral summit, Israel has announced it plans to
release thirty Arab terrorists from prison. The move is being described
as a confidence-building measure.

Russia and the ME peace process

                         Weekend News Today
                         By Andra Brack
                         Source: Arabic News

Tue Jul 11,2000 -- The London-based al-Hayat daily said in its Sunday's
issue under the title "Moscow is ready to host a summit between Barak and
Bashar," that Russia is preparing new initiatives pertaining to the peace
process and that this initiative might be announced during the visit to be
made by the Russian President Vladimir Putin to the Middle East. The paper
quoted Vasseli Serdin, the Russian deputy foreign minister who is also the
envoy for the Russian president to the Middle East as saying if the "
Syrians and the Israelis see there is a need to make contacts in Moscow,
then we will be ready to provide all backing and hosting services."

Saddam Hussein´s health deteriorating

                         Weekend News Today
                         By Andra Brack
                         Source: IsraelWire

Tue Jul 11,2000 -- According to the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, Iraqi
dictator Saddam Hussein´s health is deteriorating and he is unable to make
public appearances. It was added that the 63-year-old dictator has
canceled a previous order dividing Iraq into four military boroughs; a
move that he now fears may lead to the division of his empire in the event
his overall health deteriorates further.

Jordan Valley residents arrive in the US to lobby against PM

                         Weekend News Today
                         By Andra Brack
                         Source: IsraelWire

Tue Jul 11,2000 -- Seeking to bring their campaign against land
concessions to the United States, Jordan Valley residents on Monday
arrived in the US to begin lobbying against Prime Minister Ehud Barak and
predicted land concessions that will be made by Israel at Camp David.

http://www.upway.com/cgi/readnews.cgi?day=00_07_11&item=#963339303

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - (Fwd) Arutz-7 News: Tuesday, July 11, 2000
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 20:46:38 -0400

------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date sent: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 18:42:14 +0300
To: arutz-7@arutzsheva.org
From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@IsraelNationalNews.com>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Tuesday, July 11, 2000
Send reply to: netnews@a7.org

Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Tuesday, July 11, 2000 / Tammuz 8, 5760
------------------------------------------------
Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
--- See below for subscription instructions ---

*******************************************************
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Speakers: MK Ariel Sharon, MK Rabbi Benny Elon, and Mayor Ehud Olmert
Concert by Yehuda Glantz, July 12, 7:00 PM, Jerusalem
Reservations & info: 972-2-628-4155, mailto:michaela@beitorot.org
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TODAY'S HEADLINES:
  1. SUMMIT CONVENES
  2. BIDDING BARAK FAREWELL
  3. ISRAELI MEDIA LASHES OUT AT PM
  4. PROTESTS INTENSIFY
  5. PSYCHOLOGIST QUESTIONS BARAK'S STAMINA
  6. ARAB LEAGUE GRILLS BURGER KING
  7. AN END IN SIGHT
  8. HENDEL TO SUBMIT ANNEXATION BILL
  9. ASSAD WINS

1. SUMMIT CONVENES
The Camp David summit begins today in Washington. Prime Minister Barak's
opening position includes a willingness to relocate to Israel 100,000
displaced Arabs. Barak is also ready to give up on the Jordan Valley and
at least 40 Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza (Yesha). In
addition, he is prepared to grant the Palestinians certain sovereign powers
in Jerusalem and several Jerusalem neighborhoods; an additional offer
includes the release of all Palestinian terrorists imprisoned in Israel. MK
and former Industry Minister Ran Cohen (Meretz) said on television last
night, "When the full extent of Barak's concessions becomes known, not only
will the Israeli right wing be in shock, but the left will be as well."

As the summit begins, Palestinian delegate Yasser Abed Rabbo says that if
the Prime Minister does not agree to the complete implementation of the
Security Council resolutions relating to a full Israeli withdrawal from
Yesha and for the "right of return" for Palestinians, "nothing will be
achieved either before or after the summit."

Military Intelligence Commander Maj.- Gen. Amos Malka told the Knesset
Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee this morning that should there be a
deterioration of the security situation after the summit, thousands of
Palestinians may well storm Jewish Yesha townships. Malka added that
Arafat is unlikely to sign on an agreement that overtly declares the end of
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

2. BIDDING BARAK FAREWELL
Prime Minister Barak did not leave Israel last night with much fanfare.
Just prior to his flight, a Knesset majority of 54-52 voted no-confidence
in his government. The opposition fell short of toppling Barak, possible
only through an absolute majority of 61 Knesset members. The United Torah
Judaism party abstained in the vote as did the Shinui party. MK Meir
Porush (UTJ) said on Arutz-7's nightly newsmagazine that were his party's
five votes to have been decisive in reaching the required 61-MK threshold,
UTJ would have voted in favor of the no-confidence motion. The party's
Council of Torah Sages, he said, did not feel it was correct to engage in a
"symbolic rejection of the government," and to thereby halt legislation of
the current Tal Committee bill on yeshiva students and the military draft.

Foreign Minister David Levy, who refused to attend the Camp David summit,
took a stone-faced pose alongside Barak at the start of last night's vote.
Despite the apparent rift that has developed between himself and Barak,
Levy voted against the no-confidence motion.

After the vote, Barak told Israel television: "I wish that we would have
had 75 MKs vote with the government...This was an incidental majority -
several of our people weren't present. What we saw today was simply the
childishness of the opposition."

Likud leader MK Ariel Sharon, on the other hand, revelled in the
opposition's symbolic victory: "Mr. Barak has no majority in the Knesset,
no majority in the government, and no majority in the nation. It is
becoming clearer as time passes that Barak feels he can decide everything
on his own."

Some twenty IDF reserve officers delivered Ehud Barak a letter of support
as he boarded the plane last night. They wished him well, and expressed
their hope that he could secure an agreement "that would once and for all
end the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians." One of the reserve
officers, former Tel Aviv Mayor Shlomo Lahat, told Arutz-7 that he has
complete confidence that Barak will return to Israel with an agreement that
will bring peace and not compromise on Israel's security.

3. ISRAELI MEDIA LASHES OUT AT PM
Voice of Israel Radio Director Amnon Nadav complained today that the Prime
Minister's Office is applying heavy pressure on his workers regarding the
manner in which they report on the Israel-PA negotiations. He says that
the pressures have increased of late, in light of an anticipated national
referendum.

In today's Hebrew edition of the left-leaning Ha'aretz, diplomatic
correspondent Aluf Benn launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister
Barak's lack of political savvy and manipulation of the media. Following
is an excerpt from the article:

"The rise and fall of Ehud Barak will yet be learned in political science
forums as a thrilling lesson in the anatomy of a political collapse. Barak
needed only a year to lose his magic, to plunge the state into a serious
constitutional crisis. The Prime Minister claims that 'the people are
sovereign,' ....and that the parties, the Knesset, and cabinet ministers no
longer play an important role in fateful national decisions. Historians
will ask the question who Barak really is: Is he - as his supporters claim
- a synthesis of some flesh and blood messiah and Gulliver - whose vision
was stifled by the shackles of coalition punks? Or perhaps he is an
arrogant whipper-snapper, [bent on making his mark] in history?"

"Barak believes that he has received his mandate from the nation. The
more Barak is ousted from the political system, the more he tries to speak
directly to the nation and in the name of the nation... In his pre-election
campaign commercials, Barak presented himself as a true leader, unlike
Binyamin Netanyahu, who [Barak claimed] 'ruled only on television.'
Barak's [inarticulate style] was even presented as a sign of his
trustworthiness. There is nothing further from the truth! No Prime
Minister before him - not even Netanyahu - made such efforts at
manipulating the electronic media. Barak and his office attempt to
influence the content of programming in every manner possible, from
determining camera angles, through gathering information on [upcoming]
talk-shows, thrusting interviewees supportive to his policies onto TV and
radio spots, and lodging endless complaints against reports and analyses
[by television and radio reporters]."

MK Uzi Landau (Likud) also claims that he has proof that members of the
Prime Minister's office - including Cabinet Secretary Yitzchak Herzog - are
brazenly interfering in broadcasts. MK Landau explained that Barak aides
are exerting pressure on news and program editors and even, in some
instances, have offered bribes. Next week, Landau hopes to convene a
session of the Knesset Audit Committee for an urgent deliberation on the
matter.

4. PROTESTS INTENSIFY
Veteran residents from the Golan Heights, Yesha, and the Jordan Valley
began a hunger strike at noon today outside the Knesset, in protest of
Barak's plans to give away almost all of Judea and Samaria. The strike is
scheduled to last as long as the Camp David summit. Arutz-7's Effie Meir
reports that as of mid-day, 15 people had joined the hunger strike, while
15 others had joined a sit-in. Prof. Eli Pollack of Rechovot's Weizmann
Institute of Science is one of the strikers. "Although I have had to leave
my students for several days, I have joined the strike, because Israel just
cannot continue in the present situation! If everyone asks what he can do
to save the State of Israel, then the country will be saved."

In addition to the strike, thousands of Israelis are expected at a massive
prayer service at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem at 6 PM
today. Former Chief Rabbis Avraham Shapira and Mordechai Eliyahu, as well
as Kabbalist Rabbi Yitzchak Kaduri, have called upon all citizens to attend
the event. In dozens of places in the Galilee, massive prayer vigils are
also being held.

Yisrael B'Aliyah leader - and until this week Interior Minister - Natan
Sharansky continues to push for a national unity government from his
protest tent across from the Prime Minister's office. The parents of
Israeli MIA Zechariah Baumel paid a solidarity visit to Sharansky there
today. They were accompanied by members of the women's committee of the
International Coalition for Missing Israeli Soldiers. Mr.Yonah Baumel
heads to Camp David this week to protest Barak's agreement to attend the
summit without receiving information on his son or other missing soldiers.
Ha'aretz reports today that residents of the Jordan Valley and the northern
Dead Sea will travel to Camp David to set up a protest tent. The paper
quotes Megilot Regional Council leader Mordechai Dahman - himself a member
of Barak's Labor party - as saying: "Whoever thinks that it is possible to
fool the public is making a big mistake. The public has a good memory.
Ehud Barak is violating his commitments to the residents of the [Jordan]
Valley, the northern Dead Sea [region] and the nation of Israel, and I have
no doubt that the public will make itself heard on voting day."

5. PSYCHOLOGIST QUESTIONS BARAK'S STAMINA
The events of the last week have taken their toll on Prime Minister Barak,
and he begins the summit at a psychological disadvantage. According to Tel
Aviv University Psychology Professor Elchanan Meir, the Prime Minister is
entering talks crucial to the future of the State, overwhelmed with intense
domestic problems.

News Editor Haggai Segal proposed that Prime Minister Barak could easily
deflect the criticism by noting that he has been contemplating such a
summit for over a year now. Prof. Meir: "We all know that someone
preparing for a major event prepares himself right before the big day.
This is true of Bar Mitzvah boys, chess champions, and concert pianists.
Even Clinton has said of late that he is ready to be woken in the middle of
the night and be tested on the geography of the Land of Israel. Let's take
a look at how Prime Minister Barak spent this past week: He was
preoccupied with the doctors' strike; he then spent time revising the
Ben-Bassat tax reform; then six of his ministers left him; over the last
few days, he flew to Jordan and Egypt; then he conducted marathon meetings
in the Knesset. In short, he is arriving in Camp David jet-lagged, and
exhausted both emotionally and physically."

6. ARAB LEAGUE GRILLS BURGER KING
The Arab League has renewed its actions against the Burger King restaurant
chains, which has a franchise in the town of Ma'aleh Adumim, just
north-east of Jerusalem. A senior official in the Arab League threatens
that Arab foreign ministers will decide, at a summer conference, on a
boycott against the company. Burger King last year announced its intention
to close its Ma'aleh Adumim branch, but legal steps taken by its Israeli
franchisee facilitated the ongoing operation of the restaurant. Burger
King has some 90 restaurants in the Arab world, mostly in Saudi Arabia and
Kuwait.

7. AN END IN SIGHT
The doctors' strike is nearing an end. Teams from both the Medical Union
and Finance Ministry have been sitting continuously since yesterday and are
very close to a final agreement. A deal may be signed as early as tonight.

8. HENDEL TO SUBMIT ANNEXATION BILL
MK Tzvi Hendel (National Union-Yisrael Beiteinu) will submit a bill calling
for the immediate annexation of all Yesha Area C (full Israeli control) in
the event of a unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state. MK Hendel
told Arutz-7 today that the goal of his bill is to anchor in law the threat
recently sounded by Prime Minister Barak that he would annex Israeli areas.
Hendel's proposal goes beyond Barak's warning; as opposed to annexing
areas of "settlement blocs," Hendel's law would lead to the annexation of
all lands under Israeli control.

9. ASSAD WINS
Dr. Bashar Assad, the son of the late Syrian dictator, received nearly 98%
of the vote of Syrians in the country's national elections yesterday.
Assad was the only candidate.

Hebrew News Editor: Haggai Segal and Haggai Seri
English News Editor: Ron Meir and Hillel Fendel

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

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - NewsScan items (7/11/00)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 20:49:04 -0400

GATES BACKS SATELLITE PHONE VENTURE
Microsoft chairman Bill Gates and several other U.S. private investors are
pouring $315 million into ICO, a London-based satellite telephone venture
that was rescued from bankruptcy last year by cable entrepreneur Craig
McCaw, who merged it with Teledesic, a satellite venture he and Gates have
been backing. ICO-Teledesic hopes to offer broadband wireless Internet
access through a system of low-earth-orbit satellites. (Financial Times 11
Jul 2000) http://www.ft.com/

FTC SAYS TOYSMART HAS BREACHED PRIVACY ASSURANCES
Toysmart, the now-defunct online toy retailer partly owned by the Walt
Disney Co., is being accused by the Federal Trade Commission of violating
its own consumer privacy assurances by selling off, as one of its assets, a
database that contains consumer names, addresses, and family profiles,
including the names and ages of children. FTC official David Medine says,
""As a shakeout of dot-com companies occur, they can't sell out customer
lists they promised to protect like they do other assets, like paper clips
or computer equipment." (New York Times 11 Jul 2000)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/07/biztech/articles/11toysmart.html

A NEW CORPORATE TITLE: 'CHIEF PRIVACY OFFICER'
A new executive position is showing up on the organization charts of
companies such as American Express, Citigroup, Prudential, and AT&T: the
Chief Privacy Officer, who has broad powers to protect the privacy of
consumers who interact with corporate computer systems. George
Washington University professor Lance Hoffman says that the new position "attracts
people who have a knowledge of history and law. They know something about
technology, and they can't get techno-dazzled by explanations that don't
hold water. They appreciate what technology can do for good and for evil."
(AP/San Jose Mercury News 11 Jul 2000)
http://www.sjmercury.com/svtech/news/breaking/merc/docs/032861.htm

via: NewsScan" <newsscan@newsscan.com>

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - BT, AT&T in Unique Global Roaming Deal
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 20:55:05 -0400

Tuesday July 11 8:55 AM ET

BT, AT&T in Unique Global Roaming Deal

LONDON (Reuters) - British Telecommunications Plc. and AT&T Tuesday
launched a mobile service that will allow people to use the same phone
number in more than 100 countries in Europe, the Americas and Asia.

The service for the first time allows roaming between the GSM networks
used in most of the world and the TDMA system favored in the United
States, the companies said.

Europeans on business in the United States, for example, will be able to
receive calls to their usual number on a rented TDMA handset. Any charges
will be billed to their usual account.

The WorldConnect service is the first product from a nine-month-old alliance
between BT Wireless and AT&T Wireless Services called Advance.
Jordan Roderick, president of international activities at AT&T Wireless, said
the alliance also planned to collaborate on roaming for third-generation
services.

He said in an interview that he did not rule out the companies making joint
bids for 3G licenses, but said there was no plan for AT&T to get involved in
BT's license in Britain.

Businesses subscribing to the WorldConnect service will also get free use of
a global billing product called WorldView. This will provide telecoms
managers with a regular CD-ROM listing all calls and services used by
employees worldwide. The service will also allow them to coordinate their
international mobile contracts.

``When we announced our alliance, we said our primary objective was to
provide seamless mobile communications services around the world. This
announcement is the first step toward realizing that goal,'' AT&T Wireless
Chairman John Zeglis said in a statement.

BT Wireless also announced a corporate email service that will allow users
to access their desktop Microsoft Outlook accounts through their mobiles. It
is based on an AT&T product called PocketNet.

WorldConnect will be supported by BT subsidiaries and joint ventures
including Cellnet in Britain, Telenor in Norway, Telfort in the Netherlands,
AirTel in India and SmarTone in Hong Kong. BT and AT&T's Concert joint
venture, which manages both companies' largest multinational customers,
will help to sell the service.

BT and AT&T together have more than 60 million wireless customers in 20
countries.

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000711/tc/bt_att_dc_1.html

via: End_Times_News@egroups.com

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - GM mosquitoes w/scorpion toxin in their gut
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 20:56:56 -0400

Monday July 10, 7:40 PM

Pincer movement
By Nell Boyce

ARMING mosquitoes with the venom of a scorpion sounds like a terrible idea.
But researchers in Mexico say malaria could be stopped in its tracks by
genetically engineering mosquitoes to produce a scorpion toxin in their gut.

For years, scientists have dreamed of displacing wild mosquitoes with
genetically modified insects that cannot carry the malaria parasite
Plasmodium (New Scientist,
http://archive.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=19893900). Two weeks
ago, researchers in Europe announced the first successful attempt to
genetically modify the malaria-carrying Anopheles mosquito. Now, in
experiments on a different insect, Lourival Possani and his colleagues at the
National Autonomous University of Mexico in Cuernavaca have shown that
scorpion venom can block the malaria parasite's development.

Possani, who studies toxins derived from scorpions, recently discovered that
the venom of Pandinus imperator contains a peptide, which he calls scorpine,
that blocks the development of malaria parasites growing in culture. To see
whether scorpine has the same effect in living insects, he and his
colleagues created transgenic fruit flies that express the gene for the
peptide in their gut.

The researchers then injected young Plasmodium parasites directly into the
abdomens of the transgenic flies and their normal counterparts, and
compared how many of the parasites matured. More than 40 per cent of the
normal flies harboured mature malaria parasites. But only 12 per cent of the
flies that made scorpine had parasites that continued to grow, Possani told
researchers at a recent meeting at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in
Chevy Chase, Maryland. "I think it's a very promising result," he says.

Possani did his experiments in fruit flies because at the time no one had
managed to genetically modify Anopheles mosquitoes. He knew, however,
that David Schneider of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in
Cambridge, Massachusetts, had shown that Plasmodium parasites injected
into the guts of fruit flies develop in much the same way as they do in
mosquitoes. Details of Schneider's technique were published in Science last
week (vol 288, p 2376).

"It's wonderful to know that someone else can do it," Schneider says. "My
guess is that the way we should do things is to model them in the fruit fly
first and then hop into the mosquito."

While other types of mosquitoes have been genetically altered before, it's
only now that Fotis Kafatos of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in
Heidelberg and his colleagues have succeeded in modifying the
malaria-carrying Anopheles (Nature, vol 405, p 959). In addition to
introducing the scorpine gene, researchers would like to try a whole slew of
other modifications to the mosquito.

Because Plasmodium adversely affects mosquitoes' lifespan and ability to
reproduce, the researchers suspect that altered mosquitoes would
outcompete the wild ones. But many questions remain. "Once you make
this thing, how do you drive it into the environment?" wonders Schneider. "I'm
not sure we understand the ecology of it enough."

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/000710/18/acqjy.html

via: isml@egroups.com

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - HIV Drugs for All Would Cost $60 Billion - Report
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 20:59:28 -0400

Tuesday July 11 2:02 AM ET

HIV Drugs for All Would Cost $60 Billion - Report

By Patricia Reaney

DURBAN (Reuters) - At least 12 million people with the HIV virus worldwide
need drugs to suppress the virus which would cost an estimated $60 billion a
year at current prices, a London-based think tank said Tuesday.

The figure is less than a quarter of the United States' annual military
budget but would break the banks of the developing nations where the AIDS
epidemic is taking its heaviest toll, according to the Panos Institute.

The non-profit organization which reports on developmental issues said in
Zambia alone the drugs would cost $2 billion for the first year and would
rise to $2.7 billion by the third year, or up to 76 percent of the country's
gross national product (GNP)

``Worldwide the cost of providing antiretroviral therapy at cut prices for all
those who need them would be as high as $60 billion a year,'' Martin
Foreman, the director of the London-based Panos AIDS Program, told a
news conference.

The estimated costs are based on 40 percent of people currently living with
the virus requiring treatment.

The author of a report presented at the 13th International AIDS Conference
said the cost of the treatments was only part of the problem.

Building up national health systems and providing skilled personnel to make
sure the complicated drug regimens are administered and monitored properly
would cost additional billions.

``There are too few doctors, treating too many patients with too few drugs,''
Foreman said.

Drug Prices Must Fall Dramatically

Panos, one of the first groups to recognize the impact of the epidemic in
poor nations, applauded the promise of five leading drug companies to cut
the prices of their AIDS drugs for developing nations, as well as other
company initiatives.

Foreman said it was a start but in addition to cutting drug prices other
means of providing and administering drugs must be considered.

``Prices must fall by 95 percent for the drugs to be accessible to the majority
of people,'' Foreman said, adding that it was theoretically possible but highly
improbable to provide the necessary treatments in the near future. Each year
more people would need the HIV therapies because many of the tens of
millions of people living with the virus are newly infected.

``The numbers would continue to rise for several years and would only
decrease after prevention programs lead to a decline in infection rates,'' he
said.

Debt Relief And Compulsory Licensing

The report argues that compulsory licensing could resolve many of the
issues around the high price of antiretroviral drugs.

Compulsory licensing allows governments in specific circumstances to grant
the right to manufacture or commercialize a patented drug to another
company. Drugs produced in-country would be cheaper due to reduced
production costs and profit margins.

But most drug companies oppose it on the grounds that it reduces profits
and incentives for research.

Debt relief, including commercial debt owed to foreign governments and
international institutions, Foreman added, is another possible solution.

``An accelerated approach to debt relief, combined with improvements in
health services and reduced costs of drugs, could go some way toward
getting effective treatment to those who need it,'' the report said.

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000711/wl/aids_leadall_dc_6.html

via: End_Times_News@egroups.com

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Fury over 'online abortions'
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 21:06:36 -0400

Fury over 'online abortions'

Women can from today use the internet to book an initial consultation for
an abortion with a new service from Marie Stopes International.

By accessing the family planning charity's website, women can make an
appointment to see a doctor at one of the 21 Marie Stopes pregnancy advice
centres across England and Wales.

After an ultrasound scan and medical history checks, a termination can be
arranged at one of MSI's seven abortion centres.

A spokeswoman for MSI, which performs more than 35,000 abortions a year in
Britain, said: "Women have been requesting online booking from MSI for
some time.

"The idea of being able to read unbiased information about abortion and
then make an appointment for a consultation from home, work or an internet
cafe is obviously very appealing."

The online booking service at www.mariestopes.org.uk is only available to
women paying privately, with consultations costing £50 and abortions £300-
£700.

But the move has angered anti-abortion campaigners.

Trustee of Life, Nuala Scarisbrick said: "What worries me is that it makes
abortion seem so utterly trivial, when really it is a desperately serious
business for the mother, the baby and everyone else involved."

Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child director John Smeaton said:
"The website shows the ease with which unborn babies can be killed in
Britain - it's easier than ordering food from Tesco."

http://www.thisislondon.com/dynamic/news/story.html?in_review_id=298154&
in_review_text_id=242638

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

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - JVIM Update items (7/11/00)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 21:10:42 -0400

   RUSSIAN LIFESPAN CONTINUES TO
                         DECREASE
                                                                July 11, 2000

     The London Times reported: =93RUSSIA is facing a demographic
     crisis as a plummeting birth rate and excessive consumption of
     cigarettes and alcohol threaten the country's future. Barring
     radical changes in diet, lifestyle and the death rate among
     national service conscripts, more than half the 16-year-old boys
     who are alive in Russia today will not reach their 60th birthdays.
     Figures published by Goskomstat, the central statistical agency,
     indicate that a crumbling pre-natal healthcare system means that
     barely one in ten pregnancies results in a normal birth and less
     than a third of recorded pregnancies produced a live birth last
     year. The statistics suggest that the plunging birth rate - brought
     on largely by illness among pregnant mothers and abortion as a
     form of birth control - may be as important a factor in Russia's
     rapidly shrinking population as the country's average life
     expectancy, which, thanks to stress, cigarettes and vodka, is
     among the shortest in the world...=94

U.N. CHIEF BACKS COMMON
          ECONOMIC ZONE FOR AFRICAN
                           NATIONS
                                                                July 11, 2000

     The BBC reported: =93United Nations Secretary-General Kofi
     Annan has proposed the formation of an African oil and diamond
     union to help resolve conflict on the continent. He was speaking in
     the Togolese capital, Lome, at the annual summit meeting of the
     Organisation of African Unity. Togolese President Gnassingbe
     Eyadema also called for greater political and economic unity on
     the continent - and Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi is
     expected to do the same. But the summit itself reflects rifts
     between African governments, with several countries boycotting
     the event because of Togo's links with the Unita rebels in Angola.
     Mr.Annan praised the European Union as 'the world's most
     successful conflict prevention mechanism', and suggested that a
     similar economic union in Africa would help to tackle the root
     causes of conflict..."

GERMANY CONTINUES TO OPEN
                 MORE TRADE TO IRAN
                                                                July 11, 2000

     Agence France Presse reported: =93Iran and Germany marked a
     new start in their relations Monday with a visit by President
     Mohammad Khatami, the first to the country by an Iranian head of
     state since the Islamic revolution of 1979. Germany wants a
     'substantial new start' in relations with Iran, Chancellor Gerhard
     Schroeder said after talks with Khatami on the first of the Iranian
     leader's three days in Germany. Khatami said he was =91very happy
     that the two countries have put the crises of recent years behind
     them and that a new chapter has now been opened.=92 The
     landmark visit turns the page on a period of soured relations in
     the 1990s caused by the assassination of three Iranian Kurd
     opposition leaders in a Berlin restaurant in 1992, and then the
     detention in Iran of a German businessman for having sexual
     relations with a Muslim woman. At a joint news conference with
     Khatami, Schroeder said they wanted to re-establish traditional
     ties between the two countries, and he saw the prospect of a
     =91dynamic development=92 of economic relations. The chancellor
     announced a five-fold increase in German export credit
     guarantees for Iran to a billion marks (512 million euros, 490
     million dollars) and the revival of a bilateral economic commission
     dormant since 1991. Khatami told Iranian journalists: =91This new
     chapter will not only lead to positive new developments, but also
     that Germany recovers its true place in Iran.=92Germany is already
     Iran's leading trading partner...=94

POWER SHORTAGES CRIPPLING U.S.
                         COMPANIES
                                                                July 11, 2000

     Fox News reported: =93From the copper mines of Montana to the
     aluminum plants in Oregon, companies across the West are laying
     off workers because of skyrocketing electricity costs. Rising
     gasoline prices are tame compared to electricity rates, which
     have climbed to more than 40 times normal levels in the past two
     weeks. Usually between $20 and $30 per megawatt hour,
     wholesale prices spiked to more than $1,000 per megawatt hour
     in late June before settling down a bit so far this month. Could the
     power rates be electrocuting the economy? Not yet, because job
     losses appear to number no more than a few thousand. And
     consumers aren't likely to feel the pinch anytime soon, since most
     of them get power bought under fixed contracts. =91My guess is
     residential consumers will not see much impact, unless their utility
     must buy power quickly on the open market,=92 said John Harrison of
     the Northwest Power Planning Council in Portland, Ore. But for
     many industrial users, electricity is likely to remain expensive and
     in limited supply this summer. The Silicon Valley Manufacturing
     Group, which represents high-tech companies, last month warned
     that a looming power shortage could cripple the San Jose area's
     economy. Rising computer use is a major reason that electricity
     demand is growing by about 2 percent a year, without comparable
     increases in power generation, officials said. =91The high-tech
     industry is consuming more and more power,=92 said group
     spokeswoman Michelle Montague-Bruno. =91We need reliable
     supplies here.=92 So far, layoffs in the West are concentrated in
     old-fashioned heavy industries that use a lot of power...=94

http://www.jvim.com/cgi-bin/update.cgi

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Exploring the Moon
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 21:18:21 -0400

                                       Exploring the Moon:
                                       Europe Leads the
                                       Way

                                       By Leonard David
                                       Senior Space Writer
                                       posted: 05:00 pm ET
                                       10 July 2000

WASHINGTON -- The moon can be seen as an escaped
continent of Earth.

                  The question now facing the world is how best to transform
                  that barren landmass into a thriving hub of scientific research
                  and industrialization.

                  Increasingly, many nations are taking a longing look at Earth's
                  celestial next-door neighbor. To prove the point, you don't have
                  to look much farther than the Fourth International Conference
                  on Exploration and Utilization of the Moon. Set for July 10-15,
                  the lunar conference will be held in Noordwijk, with the city
                  heralded as the "Capital of the Moon."

[Picture caption -Under the SELENE Project from 2004, Japan will start to
develop the technology needed to explore the Moon.]

                  "The moon is a continent of Earth, formed when a Mars-size
                  impactor stripped off some of the Earth's mantle 4.55 billion
                  years ago," said Bernard Foing, a space scientist at the
                  European Space Agency's organization, the European Space
                  Research and Technology Centre in Noordwijk, Netherlands.

                  "All space agencies can now start a precursor and robotic
                  lunar program in coordination. Competition will come from the
                  challenge to do it efficiently, creatively and with public and
                  commercial support," Foing told SPACE.com.

Next steps on the moon

                  Plotting the next steps on the moon is already on Europe's
                  space agenda. Similarly, Japan is readying its Lunar A
                  mission in 2003, and the Selene moon lander for a 2004
                  touchdown.

                  All manner of ideas are to be discussed, Foing said, be they
                  lunar astronomical observatories; cost issues for a human
                  return to the moon; even the economic and legal aspects of
                  setting up a commercial business on Luna.

http://www.space.com/news/spaceagencies/lunar_europe_000710.html

Part 2

                  The International Lunar Exploration Working Group (ILEWG) is
                  organizing the multinational conference. Foing is chairman of
                  the group.

                  "I am interested in all aspects of lunar exploration, from science,
                  technology and robotics to outposts and lunar bases in which to
                  live, as well as growing new societies on the moon," Foing said.

                  During the conference, a "Lunar Declaration" is to be drafted.
                  The document serves as a plan of action for international lunar
                  explorers and space agencies keen on 21st-century exploration
                  and use of the moon, Foing said.

Mars myopia

Michael Duke, co-chairman of ILEWG, said that interest in the
moon appears higher in Europe than in the United States.

Duke is also a research scientist at the Lunar and Planetary
Institute in Houston, Texas.

                  "The upcoming conference can serve to promote an international
                  lunar program. However, there is no sign of U.S. leadership in
                  this area, as NASA appears to be placing all of its attention on
                  Martian exploration," Duke said.

                  "Lunar exploration really is international. I just see
                  it as a continuum. Ultimately, we do want to go
                  there with humans again, utilizing resources to
                  support stations there," said James Head, space
                  geologist at Brown University in Providence, Rhode
                  Island.

                  "An outstanding lunar program can be done, including sample
                  returns from key areas, for a fraction of the cost of the Mars
                  program. Such an endeavor could make a splendid area for
                  international collaboration. The moon is the only really
                  accessible place for humans beyond low Earth orbit in the next
                  decade or so, because it can be done with existing launch
                  vehicles," Duke said.

                  The moon can act as a window in piecing together the first half
                  of solar-system history, said James Head, space geologist at
                  Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. "That record is
                  largely missing on Earth, and incomplete on other terrestrial
                  planetary bodies," he said.

                  "Lunar exploration really is international," Head said. "I just see
                  it as a continuum. Ultimately, we do want to go there with
                  humans again, utilizing resources to support stations there," he
                  said.

Could lunar science be literally left in the moon dust as
commercial interests take root on our natural satellite?

                  "I think it's unrealistic to declare the solar system as a national
                  park, then think that we're going to have complete access to it
                  with no national commercial interests," Head said. "On the other
                  hand, I hope it can be done in an effective partnership," he said.

Smart move

Europe's blossoming interest in the moon is evidenced by real
hardware.

                  The European Space Agency's Small Mission for Advanced
                  Research in Technology, better known as SMART 1, is headed
                  for an Ariane 5 send-off in October 2002. The probe will tote into
                  lunar orbit instrumentation capable of mapping what's lurking
                  inside permanently shadowed craters near the moon's poles.

                  NASA's Lunar Prospector and the U.S. Defense Department's
                  Clementine spacecraft both relayed tantalizing evidence that
                  huge quantities of water ice may be buried inside these polar
                  features.

http://www.space.com/news/spaceagencies/lunar_europe_000710_2.html

                  Part 3

                  Such a resource, if present, could be converted into oxygen and
                  water for supporting a range of tasks, including commercial
                  enterprises.

                  Europe's SMART 1 will have other duties too, such as helping
                  decipher the origin of the Earth-moon system, said Foing, who
                  is also project scientist for the mission.

Return to stay

                  But as the first European satellite to be launched towards the
                  moon, SMART 1 is seen by Foing as an opening volley
                  tantamount to a technological "phasing of the moon".

                  That phased approach starts by launching a series of orbiters
                  and small landers. A second step is establishing a permanent
                  robotic presence on the moon, followed by the use of lunar
                  resources. A fourth phase is building the first human outpost,
                  Foing said.

                  Foing said that the Apollo lunar landings were akin to the brief
                  visits of the Vikings who set foot on the American continent
                  several centuries ago.

                  "We need the next phase in which some people, like Columbus
                  did, will be staying there. They will start colonizing, exploring
                  and exploiting permanently this outer-space continent of the
                  Earth -- this new frontier."

http://www.space.com/news/spaceagencies/lunar_europe_000710_3.html

Link via: transhumantech@egroups.com

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Infobeat News items (7/11/00 pm)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 21:35:10 -0400

*** N.Y. court grants lesbian visitation

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) - A lesbian who helped raise the two children
of her ex-lover has been granted temporary visitation in a ruling
believed to be the first of its kind in New York. The plaintiff,
identified only as Janis, had a parental bond with her former
girlfriend's 4-year-old boy and 2-year-old girl, Westchester Family
Court Judge Joan Cooney said in her ruling Monday. Cooney allowed
Janis to see the children for four hours every other week, beginning
Sunday. A hearing on permanent custody was set for Aug. 14. "These
children have the right of any other children to continue a loving
relationship with their parents," Cooney said. Joan Iacono, Janis'
lawyer, said a New York judge had never granted even temporary
visitation to a woman or man under such circumstances. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2568032581-b1e

*** U.S. defense secretary visits China

BEIJING (AP) - U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen arrived in the
Chinese capital Tuesday to urge restraint in exporting missile
technologies and to tell China's leaders that the Clinton
administration intends to continue pursuing the development of a
nationwide defense against long-range missiles. In an interview en
route to Beijing, Cohen said he would tell his Chinese counterpart,
Gen. Chi Haotian, that the United States sees the spread of missile
technologies as a long-term threat to America. Cohen expects to meet
with President Jiang Zemin and other senior Chinese leaders on his
first trip to China since Beijing cut off military relations with the
United States in response to the U.S. bombing of the Chinese embassy
in Belgrade last May. The U.S. insisted the attack was a mistake. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2568027373-347

*** Printing defect hits new euro notes

BERLIN (AP) - As if the euro's shrinking exchange rate wasn't bad
enough, millions of the newly printed notes could be worthless before
even reaching people's pockets. The European Central Bank, which
controls monetary policy in the 11 European countries using the
common currency, said Tuesday a printing problem at a Munich-based
printer could make 325 million 100-euro notes - roughly $32 billion -
nothing but scrap paper. A bank spokesman said the ECB's governing
council will have to decide whether to recall the defective bills.
The printing problem was the latest blow to the beleaguered euro. The
common currency has shaken consumer confidence across Europe and
fallen out of favor with speculators as it slipped in value to 95
cents against the dollar since being launched at in January 1999. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2568032213-b88

*** White House seeks Hollywood's help

WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House drug policy chief plans to take his
message to Hollywood, expanding on a program of working with the
nation's TV shows to dissuade young people from taking drugs.
"Through continuous dialogue we believe we can raise awareness about
how images of substance abuse in the movies impact audiences,
particularly young audiences," Gen. Barry McCaffrey, director of the
White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, said in a
prepared statement Tuesday. "As powerful as television is, some
experts believe that movies have an even stronger impact on young
people," McCaffrey told the House Government Reform subcommittee on
criminal justice, drug policy and human resources. He said his office
plans to work closely with major studios, individual writers and
directors in order to impact film. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2568034047-0a4

*** Scientists find Archimedes' words

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) - Scientists at Rochester Institute of
Technology are restoring a 10th century manuscript - the only known
copy in the original Greek of some of the writings of mathematician
Archimedes. The text, which scholars believe was copied in the 10th
century by a scribe from Archimedes' original scrolls, was erased 200
years later by a monk who reused the parchment for a prayer book. It
was purchased anonymously at a 1998 auction for $2 million. Using
digital cameras and processing techniques as well as ultraviolet and
infrared filters, the scientists captured images of the original
words and drawings that were washed away and then covered with a new
text. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2568032345-6cd

*** Colorful handheld aimed at teens

NEW YORK - If it catches on with the high-school crowd, it could be
the terror of teachers everywhere: a colorful handheld gadget that
allows teens to send messages to their friends in class without the
hassle of passing notes. The Cybiko, which looks like a walkie-talkie
with a black-and-white LCD screen and small keyboard, aims to fill
the age gap between Palm handhelds for mobile professionals and the
Nintendo Game Boy for kids. To capture the teen-age market, New
York-based startup Cybiko Inc. has seized on their social needs. The
gadget fulfills basic organizer functions, but also communicates
wirelessly with others of its kind up to 300 feet away. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2568035352-54d

*** Earthquake shakes Austria

VIENNA, Austria (AP) - A moderate earthquake shook Austria early
Tuesday morning, rattling doors and windows but causing no damage.
The Austrian earthquake service reported that the 5 a.m. temblor,
measuring 4.8 on the Richter scale, was the most severe quake in the
country in 20 years, the Austria Press Agency said. The quake,
centered in Ebreichsdorf, was felt in the Austrian capital of Vienna
25 miles to the north. ###

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Chief rabbis prepared to forgo control of certain 'holy places'
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 21:43:18 -0400

Wednesday, July 12, 2000

Chief rabbis prepared to forgo control of certain 'holy places'

But Old City sites will need tripartite religious agreement

By Amir Oren
Ha'aretz Correspondent

The night before Prime Minister Ehud Barak was to leave for Camp David, he
sent a special emissary to the two chief rabbis, Yisrael Lau and Eliahu
Bakshi-Doron. The emissary was a general who usually isn't in uniform: Maj.
Gen. Yaakov "Mendy" Orr, government coordinator in the territories, who is
on Barak's staff at the Camp David summit. His mission: to find out where
the chief rabbis stand - and what they'll say to the public - about the religious
issues at stake in the negotiations.

Orr went back to Barak after two hours with partial success. On one issue,
at least, the rabbis will stand by Barak. But that issue, no matter how
important, is secondary to the much more critical issue: the Temple Mount.

Lau and Bakshi-Doron told Orr - and through him, Barak - that they would not
oppose transfer of control over Rachel's Tomb, Joseph's Tomb and even the
Tomb of the Patriarchs, to the Palestinians, as long as appropriate measures
were taken to guarantee access, prayer rights and security for Jews at the
sites. Neither the halakha nor tradition, they said, requires Jewish
sovereignty over graves, including the graves of the religious pantheon. Jews
have always given in to the geography that gives others sovereignty over the
final resting spots of Jews, from Moses on Mount Nevo in Jordan, to Rabbi
Nahman of Breslau in Uman in Ukraine. There is always the matter of the
ownership of the property, but it too is a matter that is derived from
sovereignty.

This is substantial support for the expected IDF withdrawal from the
remaining territories in Hebron, Bethlehem and Nablus in an agreement with
the Palestinians. But it does not solve the Temple Mount issue.

The preliminary staff work before the departure for Camp David was based on
the assumption that the Israeli public would agree to hand over Arab
neighborhoods in East Jerusalem outside the Old City to Palestinian
jurisdiction. Israeli Jerusalem in July 2000 is eight times the size of
Jerusalem on June 5, 1967. In exchange for transferring the Arab
neighborhoods to Palestine, within the context of an umbrella municipality,
Israel will not only finally win international recognition of its capital, but Israeli
Jerusalemites will enjoy a deep cut in their city taxes.

However, there is no easy solution for the Temple Mount issue. The chief
rabbis agree that the halakha forbids any Jew from going onto the Mount until
the conditions are right (the reconstruction of the Temple, with the arrival of
the messiah), but they do not believe that Jewish sovereignty over the Mount
can be relinquished. The Palestinians, through the waqf, would never dare to
relinquish the claims to the Mount that they hold on behalf of the Arab world
and Islam.

It's a religious problem more than a political one. And that's where a formula
might be found for a tripartite, Jewish-Muslim-Christian administration that
would preserve the status quo - but that's a formula that still needs a
rhetorical juggle that would win approval not only from the Israelis and
Palestinians but from authorities far from the Holy Land.

http://www3.haaretz.co.il/eng/scripts/article.asp?mador=14&datee=07/12/00&
id=84594

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Rabbis cost [Israeli] state yearly NIS 136 M
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 21:47:45 -0400

Wednesday, July 12, 2000

Rabbis cost state yearly NIS 136 M

By Shahar Ilan
Ha'aretz Correspondent

In one of his last official duties as religious affairs minister, Yitzhak Cohen
yesterday told the Knesset that the state pays NIS 136 million a year in
salaries to some 750 rabbis, ranging from city rabbis - who earn NIS 37,000
a month - to local rabbis in small towns, who are paid NIS 10,000 a month.

Responding to a request for information by Shinui MK Yosef Paritzky, Cohen
said that 140 rabbis were top earners, serving as rabbis in the state's cities.
Another 275 rabbis are considered to be in neighborhood service, earning
NIS 11,000 a month, and the rest - 340 rabbis - serve in small towns, earning
a little less then NIS 10,000 a month.

Cohen did not answer Paritzky's question about what a state-paid rabbi's
duties involved. Cohen merely said that the rabbis, as civil servants, must
abide by the civil service rules.

Paritzky said that Cohen's answer proved the Shinui MK's point that the
rabbis "are nothing but parasites," and handed in another parliamentary
question, this time asking the minister to detail where the rabbis work, by
name. Meanwhile, Cohen told Ha'aretz that a committee is investigating the
status of neighborhood and small-town rabbis.

http://www3.haaretz.co.il/eng/scripts/article.asp?mador=14&datee=07/12/00&
id=84596

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

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