To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - July 18, 2000 TV Programs
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2000 09:29:19 -0400
8:00 PM Eastern
HIST - THE ENDURING MYSTERY OF STONEHENGE - Anthropologists,
engineers and astronomers assess the stone
circle.(CC)(TVG)
9:00
PBS - NOVA - "Tales From the Hive" - A year inside a
beehive shows an organized social life, rival queens, colony
scouts and the defeat of enemies.(CC)(TVG)
HIST - THE GREAT COMMANDERS - "Julius Caesar: The Battle of
Alesia" - Julius Caesar uses military power to dominate Roman
politics.(CC)(TVG)
TLC - SAVING LIFE AND LIMB - Reattaching human body
parts.(CC)(TVPG)
10:00
HIST - JET ENGINES - Development of jet-powered
aircraft.(CC)(TVG)
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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Pastor lures folks to church with bus ride and $10
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2000 09:37:39 -0400
July 15, 2000,
10:06PM
Pastor lures folks to
church with bus ride
and $10
By RICHARD STEWART
Copyright 2000 Houston Chronicle
Camilla McElligot / ChronicleOn his
church bus, the Rev. Rick Sebastian of
New Life in Christ Church in Bryan
gives a $10 bill to 5-year-old Quentin
Grant for attending the small,
nondenominational church July 9.
Church
Dave McDermand, Bryan-College
Station Eagle / Special to the
ChronicleThe big blue bus driven by
the Rev. Rick Sebastian visits the poor
side of Bryan each Sunday, offering
money to get people to church. "Most
churches now just reach out to people
in the suburbs," Sebastian says. "We
had a vision that we need to do more."
RYAN -- The Rev. Rick Sebastian is
about as subtle as a thunderclap.
A preacher who drives around the
seamy parts of town in a big blue bus
with the hand-lettered message, "We
will pay you $10 to come to church on
our bus," doesn't much worry about
subtlety. He worries about souls.
Sebastian freely admits it's a gimmick.
"It gets them into church, and if we can
get them into church where they can
hear the word of God," he said, "their
lives can be changed."
Every Sunday morning around 8:30
"the Rev," as he is known on the
streets, cruises around the missions,
cheap motels and housing projects of
central Bryan. When he sees someone
walking down the street or a group of
people standing on a corner, he pulls
up and tells them, "Hey, we'll pay you
$10 just to come to church."
Most turn him down, but a few come
into the dark coolness of the
air-conditioned bus for the trip to New
Life in Christ Church. True to his
word, as the riders get back on the bus
after the service, Sebastian hands each
one a $10 bill.
"I'm looking for a blessing," said Bernie
Kindred, 49, as he climbed into the
bus last Sunday morning. "Oh, I can
use the $10, but I'm looking for a
blessing, too," he said, taking off his
well-worn straw hat to run his fingers
through his long, graying hair.
Like a lot of folks, Kindred has seen
his fortunes go up and down the past
few years -- mainly down. These days
he works for a tree-trimming outfit "for
food, a place to stay and a little
something to jingle in my pocket." This
particular morning he lacked the 35
cents he needed to call his boss to ask
about the prospect for more work.
The $10 from the church, he said, was
mostly already spent. "I gotta give 50
cents back to a guy who lent it to me
to get a little something to drink this
morning. And I owe a dollar here and
a dollar there. You have to pay that
back when you get some money," he
said.
Kindred was dressed in worn jeans
and a sleeveless blue shirt with an
almost empty pack of Bugler home-roll
cigarette tobacco sticking out of the
pocket. It's not what most would
consider go-to-church clothes, but if
the worshipers at New Life in Christ
Church mind, they don't let on.
Indeed, Sebastian has learned not to
be too dressed up as he drives his bus.
"Last week this other guy and I were
wearing white shirts and ties on the bus
and four Spanish-speaking guys got off
because they got the idea we were
immigration agents," he said.
It doesn't help that federal immigration
agents have been known to use blue
buses, and a few tricks, to round up
illegal immigrants. "We had a
translator, and he tried to tell them it
was all right, but they didn't believe him
and they just walked away," Sebastian
said.
Now the pastor dons his coat and tie
after he gets to the church.
Some of the people Sebastian
approaches tell him they're on their
way to another church, or to work.
Perhaps they are, he said, but he
knows most are just politely turning
him down. "That's better than being
cussed at," he said.
That's happened, too. "We had one
woman who just stood there and told
us all the different ways we could have
sex with ourselves and each other," he
said. "She was mighty mad, and she let
us have it."
Another time he hopped out of the bus
to talk to a young woman who was
walking a very large dog. As he got
close to her, the dog became hard to
control and it looked as if the small
woman would not be able to restrain
the snarling beast.
"That's when we noticed we were a
whole lot closer to that dog than we
were to the bus," he said. The pastor
made a quick invitation and an even
quicker exit.
Not everybody approves of people
being paid $10 to go to church.
"People shouldn't take money to go to
church," said Ida, a short, wide woman
with a sweet, toothy smile.
It was her second time to make the bus
ride to church, and she admitted she
had taken the $10 the first time, "but I
haven't spent it. I just kept it."
"I was wondering what to do with it,"
she said. "I thought maybe I'd frame it
and put it up on the wall. But I figured
somebody would probably steal it
around where I live, so I don't know. I
might just put it down on the light bill. I
sure could use it on the light bill."
Somebody on the bus noted that Jesus
said he was the light of the world.
Jimmy Allen, 43, has become a regular
on the bus. He said he started coming
a few weeks back when he really
needed money and the $10 to go to
church seemed like an answered
prayer.
"I didn't believe it," he said. "I figured
they wouldn't give it to us. They'd say
they'd mail it to us or something, and
that would be it. But it was true."
Since he started going to church, his
life has changed, Allen said. "I don't
drink no more. I've stopped that
partying," he said. "I never did no
drugs, but now I leave that drinking
alone."
With his neatly trimmed goatee, clear
eyes and clean, neat clothes, Allen
doesn't look like anybody who ever
had trouble with the bottle, but he said
he had.
The $10 he gets now goes mainly to
buy cigarettes, he said. That's one thing
from his old life he hasn't yet been able
to overcome. "I sure would like to
quit," he said, "but I just can't."
Now Allen has begun to spread the
word around the streets about the bus.
He recruits more people every week.
At the suggestion that he, too, might be
on the way to getting the call to the
ministry, he beams. "I sure hope so.
I've been praying about that," he said.
Allen directs Sebastian to a cheap
motel, where they pick up Patricia
Gamble and her five children. "I like to
go to different churches," she said. "I
used to go to another church, but it's
too far and I don't have a ride to get
there."
Her family had quite a windfall -- even
the kids are handed $10 bills. When
asked what she plans to do with all that
money, she simply smiled. "Buy
another night here, I guess," she said.
As she left the bus, she reminded
Sebastian that she would be ready to
make the return run for evening church.
It was a good haul for Sebastian, a full
busload.
The bus runs have been going on for a
couple of months now. Sebastian, who
has been pastor of the small
congregation for about a year, said
some members didn't like the idea of
street people attending their church,
and they left.
"Who did Jesus go work among?" he
asked. "These very same people."
Now his congregation realizes the
spiritual gifts that come from sharing
their faith with others who have had
tougher times. "Most churches now
just reach out to people in the
suburbs," Sebastian said, "and that's
because those are the people who can
support the church. We had a vision
that we need to do more."
When time comes during the service to
ask for tithes and offerings, the pastor
points out that those who came on the
bus aren't asked to give. "We want to
give to you," he said.
The nondenominational New Life in
Christ isn't a big church. Only 60
portable chairs were set up in the
sanctuary July 9, but most were full.
The choir was Sebastian's wife,
Patricia, and two other women; the
orchestra was youth minister Mack
Robertson on the guitar, and a
drummer. "We're looking for a
keyboard player," Sebastian said. In
the back of the church, his 14-year-old
son, Kevin, recorded the service with a
home video camera.
Sebastian, a big, beefy man, starts his
sermon behind the pulpit on a riser at
the front of the church, but he doesn't
stay there long. Younger in appearance
than his 50 years, he looks as if he
could have been a salesman, and he
has been.
Although the Detroit native said he has
been a minister most of his life, he has
tried to do other things. "I never
wanted to be a pastor," he said. "I just
kept getting called back to this."
At one time he operated an airplane
charter service and a travel agency that
specialized in trips to the Caribbean.
His ministry duties took him to
Jacksonville, Fla., where he first tried
out his idea of paying people to take a
bus to church. That was several years
ago when payment was only $5.
"Inflation," he says.
When he preaches, Sebastian starts off
slow enough, but soon he is walking
back and forth in front and shouting
about being tired of churches that just
talk to each other and never reach out.
Then he moves into the audience, many
of whom are on their feet by then. He
reminds them that they all need the
touch of God and that Jesus came for
all mankind and spent most of his time
among those who were looked down
upon by the religious leaders of the
day.
He called some of them to the front,
including Allen, and invited everybody
to pray with one another. "The truth
that sets you free travels fast!" he
shouted as he grabbed one worshipper
by the head as if infusing him with the
spirit.
By then many had their hands raised in
praise and the din of spoken prayer
spread throughout the sanctuary. Some
were speaking in tongues. One portly
worshiper fell down, slain in the spirit.
Kindred and his buddy, Bill Pearson,
had spent most of the service sitting on
the back row. During the singing they
had sat there politely watching the
others carrying on.
But when the service reached its
climax, they were standing. A very
short woman came over, reached high
to lay hands on them and pray.
Afterward, Pearson quietly said, "That
was all right. That was good."
Afterward, there were hugs and
goodbyes and invitations to come
again. Some would be back, Sebastian
predicted; some he would never see
again. Some would use their $10 to try
to start a new life.
Some would use it to start a new
drunk.
Many churches spend a lot of money
advertising, the minister said. Giving the
downtrodden $10 to come to church
simply meets their urgent physical
needs and their spiritual needs.
He puts it this way: "What is the
blue-book value of a soul?"
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/page1/603970
Link via:
http://www.newsviewtoday.com
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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Censoring of Bible Creates Controversy
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2000 09:43:29 -0400
Monday July 17 8:36 AM ET
Censoring of Bible Creates Controversy
BEIRUT (Reuters) - The organizers of Lebanon's' best known cultural festival
have enraged the country's intellectual elite by cutting a biblical passage
referring to Israel from an Arabic song recital.
The decision to exclude parts of the Old Testament Song of Solomon from
Anachid, an Arabic song performance that opened the annual Baalbek
Festival, was highlighted in Wednesday's Beirut newspapers.
``This is a universal, renowned love poem. King Solomon, who wrote the
poem, is one of the Koran's prophets,'' said Aql Awit, editor of the cultural
supplement of An-Nahar newspaper. ``The reaction to this is positively
backward.''
The excluded passage includes a reference to the ``mighty sons of Israel, all
girt with swords and experts in war.'' Lebanon is officially at war with Israel
which occupied parts of south Lebanon for 22 years before pulling out its
troops in May.
Youssef Mouwannes, a Christian priest who is head of Kaslik University,
called the censorship of the Bible text sacrilegious. ``No one is permitted...to
cancel, ban, distort or complain about a sacred Christian text,'' he said in a
statement.
The controversial decision, taken after several members of parliament led by
Shi'ite Muslim Defense Minister Ghazi Zaiter objected to the passage, has
raised questions about freedom of expression in Lebanon which prides itself
on being one of the most liberal countries in the Middle East.
The Baalbek Festival is celebrated in the dramatic ruins of massive Roman
temples to Jupiter and Bacchus and is the main cultural event of the year in
Lebanon.
The uproar over the festival came a month after Lebanon's state security
banned seven foreign publications for allegedly insulting the late Syrian
president Hafez al-Assad. Syria is the main power broker in Lebanon.
One of composers of Anachid is Marcel Khalife, a renowned figure in
Lebanon and the Arab world who was taken to court last year for allegedly
insulting Islam in a song. His case stirred a huge controversy before he was
released without being charged.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000717/od/bible_dc_1.html
Link via:
http://www.newsviewtoday.com
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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - After the gold rush on Earth a 'Helium rush' to the Moon?
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2000 09:49:01 -0400
After the gold rush on Earth a
'Helium rush' to the Moon?
EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY SCIENCE REPORT
Posted: July 17, 2000
Even a Belgian mineral water 'SPA' has contributed to the lively discussions
at the Noordwijk lunar conference. "No need to search for water in the South
Pole Aitken basin, when we already have it here!" joked one participant.
For the two days last week, the 4th International Conference on Exploration
and Utilisation of the Moon (ICEUM4) has been working in three splinter
sessions devoted to 'Science of, from and on the Moon', 'Technology
Demonstration, Utilisation of Lunar Resources and Environment' and
'Infrastructure Development and Lunar Role in Human Expansion in the Solar
System'.
The numerous oral presentations have given rise to detailed
discussions on all aspects of future lunar exploration: the Moon as
an astromical platform, the effects of undiscerned craters on
travelling rovers, whether water-ice might be detected by
forthcoming missions, the architecture (inflatable or otherwise) of
lunar habitats, what would be needed for the Moon to support life,
the scientific motivations for returning to the Moon.
One subject illustrated how valuable the Moon could be to satisfy
Earth's energetic needs. The 3He isotope ("Helium 3") present in
the Moon's regolith just below the surface of its maria is considered
to be the only resource worth extracting and bringing to Earth -
more valuable than, gold, diamonds or even enriched uranium!
Quantities of Helium 3 on the Moon are worth about 3 Billion US$ a
tonne at todays' oil prices. The only terrestrial Helium 3 is some 200
kg result of the decay of tritium in thermo-nuclear weapons. It has
been calculated that the Moon has enormous reserves of 3He in the
order of one million metric tonnes.
Energy needs on Earth are expected to increase two to three times
by 2050. Helium 3 could be used in fusion reactors producing 'clean'
electricity, with little or no radioactive waste, unlike present nuclear
reactors. Second generation fusion reactors, using 3He and
Deuterium, give rise to far fewer neutrons, at the source of
radioactive waste and radiation damage. Third-generation fusion, in
which Deuterium is replaced with a 3He-3He reaction produces no
neutrons whatsoever.
Scientists at the Fusion Technology Institute of the University of
Winsconsin-Madison believe that the physics of this proposal have
been demonstrated. In the last two years, they have had operated a
facility (an inertial electrostatic confinement device, IEC)
functioning with Deuterium and 3He.
The device functioning experimentally actually consumes more
energy than it generates, but is already useful to produce medical
isotopes, required in positron emission tomography (PET). These
isotopes allow doctors to map certain organs or abnormalities such
as cancers. But the IEC fusion facility also opens up the prospect of
producing electrical power on a massive scale: 10 000 MW-years
with but one tonne of Helium 3. Compact fusion devices using
Helium 3 can be envisaged for space propulsion capable of
generating enormous acceleration.
The remaining requirement is to obtain a supply of 3He. Studies
have shown that a 20 Ton lunar mining machine, brought to the
Moon in parts and assembled there could collect the regolith and
using solar energy extract the 3He which could then be ferried to
Earth. By-products of the extraction would include hydrogen, water,
nitrogen, methane, all extremely valuable life support elements for
lunar colonies.
Would this mining operation disfigure the face of the Moon or
contaminate its environment? According to the 3He advocates, its
effects would be invisible from Earth, with excavated crater areas
being simply smoothed out.
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0007/17moonhelium/
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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Homosexuality instruction in schools at issue in Oregon ballot initiative
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2000 09:56:12 -0400
Homosexuality instruction in schools at issue in Oregon ballot
initiative
By Don Hinkle
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Concerned parents and homosexual activists
are squaring off in Oregon in what appears to be the next major
battle over the teaching of homosexuality in public schools.
Pro-family advocates in the state have collected 83,281
signatures on a petition in an effort to get a citizens'
referendum on the November ballot that could prevent
homosexuality from being taught in schools, with taxpayer money
being withheld from any school found in violation.
The Oregon Citizens' Alliance, a coalition of parent volunteers
that cuts across conservative and liberal political boundaries,
secured the signatures for the petition that declares, "the
instruction of behaviors relating to homosexuality and
bisexuality shall not be presented in a public school in a manner
which encourages, promotes or sanctions such behaviors."
The ballot initiative calls sexual orientation as it relates to
homosexuality and bisexuality a "divisive subject" that is "not
necessary to the instruction of students in public schools." The
petition has been sent to Oregon's secretary of state office,
which has 30 days to determine if it contains the 66,786 valid
signatures needed to get on the November ballot.
"Obviously we are opposed to homosexuality as a viable
lifestyle," said Gary Floyd, mission ministries strategist for
the 435 member churches of the Northwest Baptist Convention,
based in Vancouver, Wash., and encompassing the states of Oregon
and Washington. Floyd also is a member of the convention's ethics
and religious liberty committee.
Noting that only a small percentage of Oregonians have voted in
recent elections, Floyd said the committee is "encouraging our
churches in the Northwest -- at the very basic -- to get their
members registered to vote because when they do vote, they -- as
well as the greater evangelical community at large -- vote with a
conservative viewpoint."
Oregonians rejected OCA ballot initiatives in 1992 and 1994 that
attempted to prohibit government from sanctioning homosexuality.
"If they [Southern Baptists and other evangelicals] will vote, we
could see ballot initiatives like this take a decided turn,"
Floyd said.
The Oregon initiative could be a sign of things to come
nationwide, said Peter LaBarbera, president of a pro-family
group, Americans for Truth, that focuses on homosexual activism.
"The gay school issue is hot everywhere," he told The Oregonian
newspaper in mid-July. "If it's successful, it'll energize people
who believe things have gotten out of control."
Supporters of the Oregon initiative and homosexual activists
opposing it are expected to spend more than $1 million each to
try to convince voters that the measure is either a common-sense
way of protecting children or is unneeded and a veiled threat to
tolerance and diversity.
The measure has been endorsed by the Oregon Republican Party and
by the GOP candidate for state attorney general, Kevin Mannix.
"I have read it very carefully," Mannix told The Oregonian. "And
its actual words say that we shouldn't be validating homosexual
conduct in schools. I agree with that simple message."
Meanwhile, homosexual activists have hired a professional
political consultant to direct their efforts, with support coming
from groups that traditionally vote Democrat -- educators and
labor unions.
Some educators say the initiative is not needed because Oregon
schools have no homosexuality curriculum, only curriculum in sex
education and avoidance of sexually transmitted disease. They
note that parents or students can opt out of such classes without
penalty. Other educators contend that the initiative could
jeopardize academic freedom.
Conversely, a growing number of Oregon parents believe the
homosexual-rights movement has gone too far, often pressuring
schools to present a one-sided view of homosexuality to students.
They say groups like the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education
Network (GLSEN), which says its mission is to combat
homosexual-bashing, actually uses isolated acts of mistreatment
to homosexual students as cover to promote the lifestyle to
children -- often without the knowledge of parents.
GLSEN triggered an uproar in Massachusetts in March when it
sponsored -- with state Department of Education funds -- a
workshop titled, "What They Don't Tell You About Queer Sex and
Sexuality in Health Classes." A concerned parent secretly taped
the event at Tufts University that shows state-employed educators
giving children -- some as young as 12 -- explicit descriptions
of homosexual acts, complete with diagrams and demonstrations.
The incident triggered a state investigation, threats of
lawsuits, the firing of two state employees who took part in the
workshops at Tufts, a raging debate over the coverage of the
incident between the conservative and liberal news media in
Boston, and closer scrutiny of Democratic Gov. Paul Cellucci's
relationship with homosexual activists.
Not all Oregon educators oppose the initiative. Some teachers in
Portland believe their schools' policy favors the idea that it's
OK to be gay -- and does not provide alternative viewpoints. Six
Portland schoolteachers complained last year that the district
does not make available to students books that teach
homosexuality is wrong or that homosexual behavior can be
changed.
Observers say if the Oregon initiative makes the November ballot,
it will mark the first time that a state will vote on the issue.
"It is depressing and saddening that the people of Oregon have to
rely on a citizens' referendum in order to keep homosexuality
from being taught as a viable lifestyle in their public schools,"
said Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's
Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.
"However, I'm encouraged that the people of Oregon are willing to
take up the ballot initiative. It should be obvious to any
normal, rational, healthy adult that our public schools should
not be teaching to anyone under the age of 18 that homosexuality
is a normal lifestyle."
The Oregon ballot initiative comes at a time when homosexual
activists are becoming increasingly aggressive in their efforts
for schools to be more tolerant of homosexuality.
Many school systems, in response to recent court decisions, are
allowing homosexual groups like the Gay/Straight Alliance (GSA)
to meet on school property after school hours, akin to other
extracurricular activities. There are more than 700 GSA clubs in
schools around the country, many of them partially federally
funded. One of the missions of GLSEN is promote the establishment
of more GSA chapters.
While cautioning Christians not to verbally or physically abuse
homosexuals, Land said he opposes letting groups like GSA meet at
schools even after students have left for the day.
"Homosexuals describe their relationships as loving and caring,"
Land said. "But what about a brother and sister who wants to get
married? Do we allow the 'Incest Club' to meet at school just
because they say they have a loving, caring relationship? No. The
'Incest Club' would not be normal and neither are homosexual
relationships."
Baptist Press for Monday, July 17, 2000
"Crosswalk.com" <editor@crosswalk.com>
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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - That Old-Time Religion
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2000 10:10:43 -0400
That Old-Time Religion
by
Robert J. Stonebraker
There is only one religion, though there are a hundred versions of it.
.....George Bernard Shaw
Economists stick their collective noses everywhere. Convinced our discipline
is the Rosetta Stone of life, we hold nothing too sacred to invade with supply
and demand curves. Not even matters of faith.
Economists have developed a rather sophisticated framework with which to
"explain" religion. We treat religion as a differentiated commodity produced
and consumed in a competitive marketplace. Consumers "purchase" religion
in a way that maximizes utility, and churches "produce" religion in a way
that maximizes profit. To be honest, most theologians and sociologists are
well aware of the economics of religion. It's the politicians, preachers, and
media who toil in the dark.
A casual observer of most religious TV shows will hear that America has lost
its spiritual way. Those listening to election-year rhetoric about "family
values" might reach a similar conclusion. President Bush insisted that the
omission of the word "God" in the 1992 Democratic Party platform verified
our fall from grace. Our best hope of salvation lies in recapturing the values
and the faith of our fathers -- values and faith that still stand rock solid in the
rural heartland of America, but values and faith that have been lost in the
urban sprawl of our modern decadence.
Religion on the rise
Lunacy. Every objective measure we have indicates that Americans are more
religious than ever. Attendance and participation in religious activities have
not dropped; they stand at an all-time high. Roger Finke and Rodney Stark
find that religious adherence and church attendance (as a percent of
population) have risen almost continually over time1.
Some 60 percent of current Americans profess religious adherence
compared to a paltry 16 percent in the Puritan Commonwealth of
Massachusetts at the time of the Revolution War. Percentage church
attendance during the heyday of Cotton Mather in Boston around 1700 pales
relative to that of modern day Las Vegas. In addition, religious participation is
higher in our cities than down on the farm. According to Finke and Stark, "at
no time has rural America been as religious as urban America."
Not only is American religiosity on the rise -- especially in urban areas -- it
exceeds what can be found in most other countries of the world! Economist
Laurence Iannaccone compared a wide variety of religious measures across
18 industrialized nations2. The U.S. ranked at or near the top in every one.
More than 40 percent of Americans profess to attend worship services in a
given week. Less than ten percent of Scandinavians make similar claims
[citation to be listed]. If the moral fabric of America is in decay, a lack of
religiosity is not to blame. Knowledgeable politicians (an oxymoron?) had
better look elsewhere for their explanations.
If those of you perched on the political right are squirming in your seats, don't
worry -- the reason for our increased religiosity should light up your faces. It
is, in a word, competition. The modern American religious market has
claimed the most adherents because it is the most competitive.
In colonial America, as in many modern nations today, religion was
dominated by a single church. Congregational churches dominated colonial
New England, just as Catholicism dominates modern Italy and Lutheranism
dominates modern Scandinavia. But, consumers have differentiated tastes in
religion. Just as a Baskin-Robbins that sells only vanilla ice cream will lose
sales, a country that offers only one brand of faith will lose religiosity.
Anything the monopoly faith does to please one market segment is likely to
alienate another. Moreover, monopoly power is likely to sap the evangelical
fervor of the dominant faith over time. In other words, monopolies in the
sacred realm are just as prone to sloth as those in the secular world.
Pluralism is the apparent key to religious adherence. As new faiths emerged
in the U.S. through time, they capture the minds and hearts of the heretofore
heathen. This explains the increase in U.S. religiosity over time and explains
why church attendance is higher in the more pluralistic urban areas than in
rural areas which typically offer less choice.
Government barriers
But, if monopoly faiths are evangelistically inferior, why have they survived?
Adam Smith had the answer more than 200 years ago. He knew that if
clergy are confronted by competitive pressure "their exertion, their zeal and
industry" must rise.3 He knew that, like other producers, churches would
fight to insulate themselves from the rigors of such competitive pressure;
that, barring natural economic entry barriers, they would seek refuge in
protective government regulation. And they did. The religion of the king
became a national, state-endorsed religion and alternative faiths were
repressed through both legislation and violence. As Iannaccone puts it,
"From Old Testament Israel to contemporary Iran, religious uniformity has
arrived on the edge of the sword, and only the sword has sufficed to maintain
it."4
Although the American colonies were settled by refugees seeking to avoid
monopoly church repression, they were intolerant themselves. They quickly
set up government-backed religions of their own and used state power to
erect entry barriers against new, upstart faiths. Congregational churches
received revenues from colonial New England taxes and itinerant ministers
were banned from preaching without the prior approval of local clergy.
Successive waves of immigration helped erode government barriers in the
U.S. over time, but many European monopolies have endured. Despite
woeful attendance patterns, the German government still subsidizes
Lutheran congregations through state-imposed membership taxes and
several Scandinavian governments continue to pay Lutheran pastors as civil
servants.
The message is clear; monopoly production restricts output in religion just
as in widgits. If greater religiosity is the goal, laissez faire market
competition should be the means.
___________________________________
Notes:
1. Finke, Roger and Starke, Rodney, The Churching of America 1776 - 1990:
Winners and Losers
in our Religious Economy, New Brunswick, Rutgers University Press, 1992.
2. Iannaccone, Laurence R., "The Consequences of Religious Market
Structure," Rationality and
Society, volume 3, number 2, April 1991, pp. 156-177.
3. Smith, Adam, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of
Nations, 1776, reprinted
by Modern Library, New York, 1965, p.740.
4. Iannaccone, Laurence R., op. cit., p. 159.
http://www.chss.iup.edu/bobstone/church.htm
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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Henry VIII Wives Have Day in Court
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2000 10:18:02 -0400
06:43 PM ET 07/17/0
Henry VIII Wives Have Day in Court
By JILL LAWLESS=
Associated Press Writer=
LONDON (AP) _ King Henry VIII had many titles _ King of England
and of Ireland, Defender of the Faith, ``Bluff King Hal.'' But in a
mock courtroom Monday he was called something else _ adulterer,
abusive husband, deadbeat dad.
U.S. and British family lawyers examined the marital woes of
England's oft-wed king, who in the 16th century married six wives,
beheaded two of them and broke England's ties with the Roman
Catholic Church so that he could leave his first wife and remarry.
During the session _ part of the American Bar Association's
annual meeting being held in London this week _ 500 lawyers heard
long-suffering first wife Catherine of Aragon ask for a restraining
order against her violent spouse. Doomed Anne Boleyn, headed for
the chopping block in 1536, sought a quickie divorce, while sixth
wife Catherine Parr called on the king to honor their prenuptial
agreement.
``The amazing thing is, 400 years later the issues are all still
the same,'' whispered one American lawyer in the audience.
The mock trial _ heard simultaneously by England's top family
law judge, Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss, and Florida Supreme Court
Justice Peggy Quince _ was designed to feature issues in
contemporary family law.
Few modern-day marriage problems are as cataclysmic as those of
Henry, whose attempt to get his marriage to Catherine of Aragon
annulled so he could wed Anne Boleyn led to his excommunication by
the pope and the founding of the Anglican church.
But the U.S. and British lawyers representing the queens did not
have to struggle very hard to give their tales a contemporary ring.
Anne Boleyn _ accused by the king of adultery, incest and treason _
was ``the victim of sustained spin,'' according to her lawyer.
Catherine Howard _ Henry's fifth wife, also executed for treason _
was a battered spouse trapped in a cycle of violence.
As befits the theme of the conference _ ``Common Law, Common
Bond'' _ the trans-Atlantic judges broadly agreed.
``The behavior of his majesty toward several of his wives has
gone beyond acceptable bounds,'' Butler-Sloss said drily.
Nonetheless, the event highlighted differences between U.S. and
British law _ especially when it comes to money. Quince was more
ready to grant the wives' financial demands than the cautious
Butler-Sloss.
She called some of the financial claims, which included
Catherine of Aragon asking for half the King's property and other
payments including the crown jewels, ``excessive under English
law,'' awarding ``reasonable costs _ English standards, not
American standards.''
U.S. lawyers have flooded London for the conference, which has
close to 4,000 registered participants. They can choose among more
than 200 meetings and seminars, from the topical (``Privacy,
Paparazzi and the Media'') to the sobering (``How Depression Can
Affect the Bottom Line of Your Practice.'')
Speakers this week include U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno,
former Sen. George Mitchell, broker of the Northern Ireland peace
accord, and lawyer Cherie Booth, wife of Prime Minister Tony Blair
_ though not, as organizers had hoped, in a debate with Hillary
Rodham Clinton, who is otherwise engaged with her U.S. Senate bid.
To underline the meeting's theme of the deep links between the
two countries' legal systems, lawyers on Saturday held a ceremony
at the site west of London where King John signed the Magna Carta,
the founding document of English common law.
``The common law, and the common values that go with it, were
England's first exports to America,'' Prime Minister Tony Blair
said at the gathering's opening ceremony Monday.
But the two nations continue to have their differences _ a fact
that will be highlighted at another mock trial on Thursday. The
United States will put King George III, who lost the American
colonies in the Revolutionary War, in the dock for terrorism, and
Britain tries George Washington for treason.
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2568203028-004
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Subject: [BPR] - Iraq brags of biological weapons to 'deal with Zionist entity'
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2000 10:20:10 -0400
Iraq brags of biological weapons to 'deal with Zionist entity'
By Etgar Lefkovits
JERUSALEM (July 18) - Former UNSCOM executive director Richard Butler
said
yesterday that Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz had told him his
country has biological weapons "to deal with the 'Zionist entity.' "
Butler said he fears that Aziz's comment, made in a meeting while Butler was
still involved in the disarmament effort in Iraq, is a statement of
"genocidal character."
Speaking at a lecture in Jerusalem sponsored by the Jerusalem Center for
Public Affairs, Butler said that, two years after Iraq kicked out the UN
monitoring agency, Iraq is back in the business of making weapons of mass
destruction, and that only a united Security Council can prevent Iraq from
producing biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons.
The regime, now "awash with money," will only be spurred to produce more
weapons following Iran's successful launching of a long-range missile on
Saturday, Butler said.
But it was "from day one" that Saddam decided to refuse to obey the laws,
said Butler, currently a diplomat in residence at the Council for Foreign
Relations in the US. "Either the Iraqis' declarations were false, phony, or
filled with deceptions and evasions," he said.
Faced with political pressure from Russia to "lower his standards" and a
crumbling Security Council consensus, Butler drew up a list of disarmament
requirements for the Iraqis to bring an end to the sanctions.
He asked them to account for 500 tons of fuel used to make Scud missiles,
to
list the quantity of mustard shells as well as the amount of VX nerve gas
they had, and most important to reveal what types of biological weapons they
were producing.
Despite the assurances that he received from Aziz, whom Butler terms the
"minister for disarmament resistance," Iraq refused to comply with any of
the conditions, and expelled Butler's group in August 1998.
"They refused to comply with my list because it was right. The things I was
asking for were precisely the weapons that if we got hold of, Iraq would be
disarmed, and they did not want to be," he said.
The new organization that took over after UNSCOM was expelled established
six months ago after nearly a year of UN deliberations six months ago has
still never set foot in Iraq, and is undergoing training in New York about
Iraq's "cultural sensitivities," he said.
Calling Iraq's flaunting of the UN Security Council, with Russia's backing,
a "crisis in global security," Butler said Iraq is basically telling the
main authority of international law to "get lost."
The US, Butler argues, has not made it adequately clear to the Russians that
their behavior is incompatible with their relationship with the US.
"When the Security Council is not united, rogue states get away with
flaunting the law," he said.
The UN, which was set up in the wake of World War II, has a moral
imperative
to act, he said. "I don't think we should wait for another catastrophe to
happen before making a change," Butler concluded.
Meanwhile Saddam Hussein marked the 32nd anniversary of the coup that
brought him to power yesterday, telling the Iraqi people they had defeated
the West and exhorting them to overcome UN sanctions.
In a live television and radio address, Saddam said the July 17, 1968
revolution had transformed Iraq from a "wasteland."
Newspapers carried color portraits of Saddam on their front pages and
praised the achievements of his Arab Ba'ath Socialist Party.
"The people and the nation achieve victory and the evil ones meet defeat,"
Saddam said.
In a clear reference to the US, he added: "And thus the free, exalted men
and women win victory over the invaders."
Saddam's address made no reference to Iraq's relations with the UN Security
Council and UN inspections of Baghdad's prohibited weapons.
(Reuters contributed to this report.)
http://www.jpost.com/Editions/2000/07/18/News/News.9758.html
via: Third_Watch@egroups.com
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Subject: [BPR] - Proposal Offers Surveillance Rules for the Internet
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2000 10:23:16 -0400
Proposal Offers Surveillance Rules for the Internet
White House Tries to Balance Rights of Computer Users and Law
Enforcement
By STEPHEN LABATON with MATT RICHTEL
WASHINGTON, July 17 -- The White House said today that it would propose
legislation to set legal requirements for surveillance in cyberspace by law
enforcement authorities similar in some ways to those for telephone
wiretaps.
Privacy advocates and civil liberties groups welcomed some aspects of the
proposal but said they remained alarmed about a new F.B.I. computer
system that searches and intercepts private e-mail and can easily capture
communications of people not suspected of crimes.
The legislative proposal was made as the administration also announced
today that it had eased export controls on encryption technology, making it
significantly easier for American companies to sell software products to the
European Union and eight other trading partners that can be used to keep
computer data and communications secure.
Both the electronic surveillance proposal and the export control changes are
part of a broader policy outlined in a speech today by John D. Podesta, the
White House chief of staff. He said the policy tries to balance the privacy
rights of computer users against the needs of law enforcement to be able to
monitor digital communications.
Congress and federal regulators have done little work in the area, even as
the world has quickly come to rely heavily on communications through
cyberspace. More than 1.4 billion e-mail messages change hands every day.
The administration's legislative proposal on electronic surveillance tries
to fix the inconsistent patchwork of laws that apply different standards to
telephone, cable and other technologies with a single standard for those
systems and the Internet. Prospects for the proposal in Congress are
uncertain.
Until now, law enforcement agencies have been able to monitor electronic
communication with only modest court supervision.
The proposed legislation would require that the same standards that apply to
the interception of the content of telephone calls apply to the interception
of e-mail messages. Specifically, it would require law enforcement agents to
demonstrate that they have probable cause of a crime to obtain a court order
seeking the contents of a suspect's e-mail messages.
The proposal would also give federal magistrates greater authority to review
requests by law enforcement authorities for so-called pen registers -- lists
of the phone numbers called from a particular location and the time of the
calls. The magistrates now have no authority to question the request for
such lists, which are frequently used by the authorities.
In the context of the Internet, existing laws are ambiguous about what
standards apply for different kinds of surveillance. Many limitations
imposed on law enforcement in the context of telephone wiretaps -- like the
requirement that such taps be approved at the highest level of the Justice
Department -- do not appear to apply to e-mail surveillance.
Moreover, the Cable Act of 1984 sets a far harder burden for government
agents to satisfy when trying to monitor computers using cable modems
than when monitoring telephones. That has proved troublesome for law
enforcement authorities as more Americans begin to use high-speed Internet
service through cable networks. The Cable Act also requires that the target
of the surveillance be given notice and an opportunity to challenge the
request.
"It's time to update and harmonize our existing laws to give all forms of
technology the same legislative protections as our telephone conversations,"
Mr. Podesta said in a speech at the National Press Club. "Our proposed
legislation would harmonize the legal standards that apply to law
enforcement's access to e-mails, telephone calls and cable services."
White House officials said today that they hoped the proposal would break a
logjam in Congress where a variety of different measures have been
introduced dealing with electronic surveillance. The administration's
proposal adopts some elements of both Democratic and Republican bills.
But Congressional aides said there was too little time left in the
legislative session and that the matter would in all likelihood remain
unresolved until after the next term begins, in 2001.
Administration officials said the proposal would apply to communications
that either begin or end in the United States. It would not apply to e-mail
messages transmitted entirely outside the country.
Privacy and civil liberties groups criticized the administration's proposal
because it would continue to permit the government to use a new surveillance
system that the groups say may be used far more broadly than older
technologies, enabling federal agents to monitor an unlimited amount of
innocent communications, including those of people who are not targets of
criminal investigations.
The system, used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, is called
Carnivore, so named, agents say, because it is able to quickly get the
"meat" in huge quantities of e-mail messages, so-called instant messaging
and other communications between computers.
Carnivore is housed in a small black box and consists of hardware and
software that trolls for information after being connected to the network of
an Internet service provider. Once installed, it has the ability to monitor
all of the e-mail on a network, from the list of what mail is sent to the
actual content of the communications.
Marcus C. Thomas, section chief of the Cyber Technology Section of the
F.B.I., said the technology was developed 18 months ago by F.B.I. engineers
and has been used fewer than 25 times. Mr. Thomas said that Carnivore had
potentially broad capabilities and that he understood the concerns of
privacy groups.
"It can do a ton of things," he said. "That's why it's illegal to do so
without a clear order from the court."
He said that most Internet service providers had cooperated with requests to
use Carnivore.
Privacy groups and some Internet service providers have been deeply critical
of the use of Carnivore because, once installed on a network, it permits the
government to take whatever information it wants.
Moreover, the government has not said what it does with the extraneous
material it gathers that is not relevant to the particular surveillance.
The issue does not often arise today with the monitoring of telephone
conversations because when a law enforcement authority wants to see a list
of telephone calls made by a suspect, the agent gets an order from a
magistrate, presents the order to a telephone company, and the company
then turns over the list.
In at least one instance, an Internet company did not cooperate so readily
with the government. In December, federal marshals approached the
company with a court order permitting them to deploy a device to register
time, date and source information involving e-mail messages sent to and
from a specified account.
Concerned the device would record broader information, the company
countered with a compromise: it would provide the government with the
requested information about e-mail senders and recipients, according to
Robert Corn-Revere, a lawyer for the company, in recent Congressional
testimony. The company was later identified as EarthLink, a service provider
with 3.5 million subscribers.
Mr. Corn-Revere said the government initially accepted the compromise but
later became dissatisfied and wished to use its own device. EarthLink
objected but was overruled by a a federal court, which ordered the device
deployed.
Other Internet companies have also been critical of Carnivore.
William L. Schrader, chairman and chief executive of PSINet, a major
commercial Internet service provider, said that the system gave the F.B.I.
the ability to monitor e-mail messages of every person on a given network.
He said he would refuse to permit the government to use the technology at
PSINet unless agents could prove that it could only sift out the traffic
from a given individual that is the target of a court order.
"I object to American citizens and any citizens of the world always being
subject to someone monitoring their e-mail," said Mr. Schrader, whose
company serves about 100,000 businesses and more than 10 million users. "I
believe it's unconstitutional and I'll wait for the Supreme Court to force
me to do it."
Civil liberties groups, meanwhile, said that today's policy announcement was
an inadequate response to the growing controversy over the deployment of
Carnivore.
"Today's speech was camouflage to cover the mess that is Carnivore," said
Barry Steinhardt, an associate director of the American Civil Liberties
Union. "In light of the public and Congressional criticism of Carnivore, we
had hoped and expected far more from an administration that likes to tout
its sensitivity to privacy rights. Rather than glossing over Carnivore,
Podesta should have announced that the administration was suspending its
use."
Facing growing concerns about Carnivore, Attorney General Janet Reno said
on Thursday that she would review whether the system was being used in a
manner consistent with privacy rights in the Constitution and in federal law. A
subcommittee of the House is set to hold a hearing next week on the
system.
While the civil liberties and privacy groups applauded giving judges greater
discretion to review certain kinds of requests for surveillance, they were
critical of other aspects of the proposal.
Marc Rotenberg, director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a
research organization that studies privacy issues and technology, criticized
the administration for lowering the standards for surveillance of cable
modems rather than raising the standards for telephone surveillance.
"The Cable Act provides for one of the best privacy protections in the United
States," Mr. Rotenberg said. "The question is whether to harmonize up or
harmonize down. Our view is this harmonizes down."
But administration officials said the Cable Act never contemplated that
there would be broad use of cable modems for e-mail traffic and that the
standards used for obtaining warrants for telephone surveillance should also
apply to digital communications through cable networks.
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/07/biztech/articles/18secure.html
via: Third_Watch@egroups.com
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Subject: [BPR] - Chinese President Calls For Fight Against Hostile Western Forces
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2000 10:26:26 -0400
Chinese President Calls For Fight Against Hostile Western Forces
BEIJING, Jul 17, 2000 -- (Agence France Presse) Chinese President Jiang
Zemin has called on the country's young communist cadres to steel
themselves for the battle against hostile Western forces plotting against
China.
In a speech published Monday, Jiang also called for the rapid promotion of
younger Communist Party members who could guide China in the era of
globalization and prevent domination by the West.
The speech on June 9 to a Communist Party school is just the latest in a
series by the Chinese leader calling for the strengthening of communist
ideology as the country pushes ahead with free market reforms.
"Western hostile forces don't want to see the power of socialist China
develop and their strategic plots to 'westernize' and 'split' China will
not change but will take on urgency," Jiang said.
"Our struggle to fight against western hostile forces infiltrating and
seeking to overthrow (the party) is a long and complicated struggle that
at times will be very intense," he said, quoted in the state press.
During the speech, made to recent graduates at the CCP school, Jiang urged
the party to appoint younger party leaders to important state positions as
China grappled with globalization, and he stressed new appointments should
be based on "correct ideology".
"In building the party, priority should be given to improving the
ideological and political quality of leading party officials, especially
young and middle-aged ones," he said.
China needed new leaders to deal with rapid economic globalization that
was quickly being dominated by the "hegemony and power politics" of
developed Western nations.
Jiang also warned of the dangers before the party as it faced a United
States, which maintained a super-power status in economic, science and
technology and military affairs.
The speech was largely seen as making preparations for a CCP congress in
2002 when wholesale changes in the party and state leadership are expected
to take place.
Jiang's call for new and younger officials who better understand the
international situation and market economics echoes calls made before
party congresses in 1992 and 1997.
The speech also demanded that young party leaders "adhere to the socialist
road with Chinese characteristics," language which refers to China's
ongoing capitalist market economic reforms and the CCP's communist form of
government.
http://www.insidechina.com/news.php3?id=179313
via: Third_Watch@egroups.com
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Subject: [BPR] - Iraq orders Russian anti-aircraft missiles
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2000 10:27:29 -0400
Iraq orders Russian anti-aircraft missiles
By Con Coughlin
IRAQ has renewed efforts to negotiate a controversial multi-million-pound
arms deal with Russia that would enable it to re-equip its air defence
systems, The Telegraph can reveal. The move will pose a serious threat to
British and American aircraft enforcing the United Nation's no-fly zone.
According to Western defence experts, the Iraqis earlier this month
ordered 150 advanced Russian IGLA mobile air defence systems which would
be capable of destroying Allied aircraft.
In an initial deal worth an estimated £5 million, they have asked the
Russians to provide launching devices and maintenance kits for the
missiles. They are also exploring setting up their own production line.
Defence experts believe the IGLA deal will be the first of many military
agreements which could be worth hundreds of millions of pounds to the
Russians.
It is the second time the Iraqis have attempted to negotiate a military
pact with Moscow since the imposition of wide-ranging UN sanctions after
the invasion of Kuwait. Early last year, the Iraqis negotiated a £100
million arms package with Yevgeny Primakov, the former Russian prime
minister, shortly after the UN authorised air strikes by Britain and the
US in retaliation for Saddam Hussein's refusal to cooperate with weapons
inspectors.
That deal was abandoned after details were revealed exclusively by The
Telegraph, provoking anger from the US which accused the Russians of a
flagrant breach of the sanctions. Relations between Iraq and the West have
reached stalemate, with little prospect of weapons inspectors returning to
Baghdad.
While British and American warplanes regularly patrol the no-fly zones in
northern and southern Iraq, often engaging the Iraqis, the conflict is on
the margins of international diplomacy.
Many Western diplomats believe Iraq is using the lull in hostilities to
re-equip and upgrade its arsenal in anticipation of future escalation.
Only last week the Iraqis were reported to have launched a short-range
ballistic missile, confirming fears that Baghdad has rebuilt many of the
factories destroyed by the Allies.
The latest attempt by Saddam to restore military trade links with Russia -
Iraq's major military supplier prior to the Gulf war - follows a visit by
a high-level team of Iraqi defence experts earlier this month to a
demonstration of Russia's up-graded missiles. The Iraqis were invited by
Rosvooruzheniye, the state-owned company responsible for military exports,
which arranged the test at the Kolomna Machine-Building Design Bureau,
near Moscow.
Assuming the latest deal goes ahead, the Russians will ship the missiles
to Lebanon once an Iraqi deposit reaches a Beirut bank account. The
missiles will then be taken overland to Iraq. The agreement represents a
significant breakthrough for Saddam who has diverted hundreds of millions
of pounds to rebuilding his air defences while claiming at the UN that he
cannot afford basic foods and medicines.
The frequency of visits by senior Iraqi officials to Moscow also suggests
that President Putin is prepared to risk Washington's ire by re-arming an
international pariah.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/et?ac=002224666345836&rtmo=wAs0jtAb&atmo=
mSzOHQSR
&pg=/et/00/7/16/wiraq16.html
via: Third_Watch@egroups.com
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Subject: [BPR] - Putin: China Is Strategic Partner
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2000 10:29:45 -0400
Putin: China Is Strategic Partner
UPI
Monday, July 17, 2000
MOSCOW – In an interview with China's Xinhua news agency released
Sunday ahead of next week's visit to China, Russian President Vladimir
Putin called the country Russia's strategic partner. In the interview,
excerpts of which were transmitted by Russian news agencies, Putin said
Russia's future clearly lay in building closer ties with its giant eastern
neighbor.
The Russian leader said he was convinced that a strong relationship
between Moscow and Beijing would flourish in the 21st century. Putin also
reiterated earlier statements on international security, calling for a
multi-polar world to balance the dominant position of the United States in
international affairs, and voiced concern over Western moves to interfere
in the internal affairs of sovereign states over human rights concerns.
Putin's remarks echoed earlier condemnation by Moscow and Beijing of
NATO's bombardment of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo crisis.
Russia and China have been criticized for their human rights records, with
Russia recently coming under strong pressure from the West over its
treatment of Chechen civilians during the continuing conflict in the
breakaway province.
Earlier, Putin underscored the changing priorities of Russia's foreign
policy, with Asia taking a more prominent role at the expense of the
United States.
"Russia is both a European and an Asian state," Putin said. "It is like a
bird that can only fly well if it uses both wings."
He made references to Russia's double-headed eagle coat of arms, which is
intended to demonstrate the equal importance attached to relations with
West and East.
A fragment of Putin's interview to Chinese journalists broadcast by
Russian television networks said Russia intended to study China's economic
reforms and would possibly adopt certain parts of the Chinese model in
future economic development.
Putin earlier said he intended to incorporate the experience of post-war
German and Japanese economic development models to pull Russia out of its
decade-long post-Soviet economic slump.
Yevgeny Kiselyov, the anchor of the influential analytical television
program Itogi, said Sunday it remained unclear how serious Putin is in
adopting the Chinese economic development program to Russia.
China's Communist rulers have been able to achieve impressive economic
growth over the past 15 years while maintaining tight control of ideology
and central power structures – something that may be particularly
appealing to Putin, who has shunned a free-for-all open market approach,
calling instead for a more significant state role in managing the economy.
http://www.newsmax.com/articles/?a=2000/7/16/175431
via: Third_Watch@egroups.com
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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Guggenheim in talks with casino
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2000 10:43:49 -0400
*** Guggenheim in talks with casino
LAS VEGAS (AP) - The Guggenheim Museum and slot machines aren't
usually mentioned together, but a potential deal to bring a
Guggenheim branch to this gambling mecca could inject some refinement
into a city defined by neon signs and cheap buffets. The Venetian
hotel-casino is talking to the museum about creating the new
Guggenheim outpost on a parcel adjacent to the resort's parking
garage. "I think Las Vegas could use a little culture," Marvin
Roffman, a gambling analyst for Roffman Miller Associates, said
Friday. The 35,000-square-foot building on the Strip would serve as a
venue for shows from the New York-based museum and would be designed
by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, the Los Angeles Times and the Wall
Street Journal reported Friday. It also would be the first
significant collaboration between such an institution and a
hotel-casino in the United States. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2568142812-eeb
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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Re: Fast of Tammuz 17
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Khazneh")
Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2000 11:08:53 -0500
Misc. dates:
7 weeks from Jerusalem Day 2000 (beginning June 1) = 17 Tammuz (20
July)
62 weeks from Jerusalem Day 1999 (beginning May 13) = 17 Tammuz (20
July)
20 July, 2000 is the 49th anniversary of the assassination of
Abdullah I
on the Temple Mount. 1517: Ottomans conquer Palestine 1520 - 1566:
Reign
of Suleiman 'the Magnificent', who rebuilt the walls and gates of
Jerusalem.
1517 - 1566 = 49 years (7 x 7)
1566 - 2000 = 434 years (7 x 62)
1517 - 1951 = 434
1951 - 2000 = 49
Hebrews 10:12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for
sins
for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; Hebrews 10:13 From
henceforth
expecting till his enemies be made his *footstool*.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Moza"
To: BPR Mailing List
Sent: Monday, July 17, 2000 2:39 PM
Subject: [BPR] - Fast of Tammuz 17
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Subject: [BPR] - Christians massacred in mosque by rebels
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2000 11:39:10 -0500
Christians massacred in mosque by rebels
ASSOCIATED PRESS in Cagayan de Oro
http://www.scmp.com/News/Asia/Article/FullText_asp_ArticleID-200007180405536
94.asp
Armed men believed to be Muslim rebels killed 21 Christians, including a
pregnant woman, inside a mosque in a remote farming village in the southern
Philippines, the military said yesterday.
About 100 attackers entered the village of Somogot in Bombaran, Lanao del
Sur province, Mindanao on Sunday and forced 21 Christian residents inside
the mosque, military reports said. The men then burned the victims' houses.
When night fell, they executed them at point-blank range, said Major Johnny
Macanes. The religious composition of the village is about half Christian
and half Muslim.
After the killings, the armed men attacked a nearby militia detachment but
were repulsed and fled, said Major Macanes. The men were believed to be
members of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) who fled from
rebel headquarters at Camp Abubakar when it was seized last week by the
military.
In another southern town, a bomb exploded yesterday near a municipality
where a blast killed two shoppers and injured 33 other a day earlier, but no
one was injured. One of two 81mm mortar shells fashioned into a bomb with a
timing device exploded at a bus terminal inside a market in Matalam, North
Cotabato province, Mindanao, said police chief Jeffrey Panagdatu. The
explosion hurled the second mortar shell about 10 metres, but it did not
explode.
A 10-year-old boy and a 35-year-old woman were killed and 33 other civilians
wounded, many seriously, by a powerful home-made bomb that exploded on
Sunday in a crowded public market in Kabacan, also in North Cotabato. A
second unexploded bomb was discovered several metres away.
The military said the bombings appeared to be a response to the call last
week by MILF chief Salamat Hashim for a Muslim jihad, or holy war, against
the Manila Government. Rebel spokesman Eid Kabalu denied the group's
involvement in Sunday's explosion.
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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Producing the 'right' baby
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2000 11:46:20 -0500
Producing the 'right' baby
http://www.scmp.com/News/Comment/Article/FullText_asp_ArticleID-200007172227
05675.asp
Controversial conception: Professor Zhuang Guanglun and Dr Xu Yanwen with Ms
Zhong and her baby girl, the first "third-generation test-tube baby" to be
born on mainland China.
LINDA YEUNG
Professor Zhuang Guanglun calls her a "third-generation test-tube baby".
April's birth of a baby girl at his university hospital research institute
in Guangzhou marked a milestone in the development of genetic technology in
China.
It was the first time on the mainland that a test-tube embryo had been
screened for hereditary diseases and sex selection before being placed in
her mother's womb - a controversial procedure that has sparked fears of
"designer babies" in other countries, as it makes it easy for the foetus to
be "aborted", simply by not proceeding with implantation.
Such testing would be illegal in Hong Kong, except in extreme circumstances,
and although similar technology also exists in the West, these concerns mean
that it is rarely, if ever, used. China has traditionally lagged behind
Western countries when it comes to in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) technology,
but Professor Zhuang, who devoted the past decade to developing the
technique, has managed to narrow the gap considerably. Now his services are
in heavy demand, as he trains other doctors in how to use such genetic tests
to bring new hope to infertile parents and those with hereditary diseases.
On a wall in his cluttered office at the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun
Yat-sen University of Medical Sciences, Professor Zhuang hangs a picture he
took in 1997 with a beaming Dr Robert Edwards, the British scientist who
created the world's first test-tube baby, Louise Brown, 22 years ago. The
hospital's Assisted Reproductive Technique Research Centre, which he
founded, can perform gene screening tests on embryos for inherited diseases
and conditions, such as Down's Syndrome and colour blindness.
It is no wonder that the 62-year-old, slightly weary-faced professor appears
elated at the mention of the birth in April. Ahead of him now is a string of
workshops to teach gynaecologists about the new technique, which is
officially known as pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). "I am the one
who called the baby 'third-generation' test-tube baby. No one outside China
uses that term," he concedes, obviously overjoyed with the successful birth
of the girl, whose parents are both government cadres.
In May, another test-tube baby, who had undergone a PGD, was born. Her
mother is a carrier of haemophilia.
The PGD technique allows doctors to determine the sex of an embryo and
whether it carries any genes for hereditary diseases. Professor Zhuang will
only perform the test in cases where a parent is a carrier of hereditary
disease in which gender plays a prominent part. Married for nine years, Ms
Zhong, the mother of the baby girl born in April, is a carrier of the gene
for haemophilia, and had a son who died of cerebral hemorrhage at the age of
one.
A few Hong Kong doctors have also developed the skill but they are not as
free as their mainland counterparts in employing it. The recently-passed
Human Reproductive Technology Ordinance says such tests can only be carried
out where the parents have severe sex-linked genetic diseases. Even before
the legislation was introduced, doctors at Queen Mary Hospital only used it
for testing for thalassemia, and were not inclined towards testing for the
gender at the pre-implantation stage. Thalassemia is caused by weak red
blood cells, which put sufferers at risk of anemia and heavy bleeding.
In countries such as Britain, one of the leading countries in the pioneering
of PGD, the technique has been mired in controversy. Critics there warn that
further development in genetic technology could pave the way for the making
of designer babies, by allowing testing for a whole range of conditions that
are not horrendous or life-threatening. Dr David King, editor of Britain's
Genetic News, once said of the risks posed by the advancing technology:
"Children would feel they are products and not unique individuals. They
would feel a major part of their freedom has been taken away."
But on the mainland there is not yet any formal regulatory framework
covering sex selection and the "one child" policy means that parents, who
invariably want a son, are likely to be far more anxious to discover the
gender of their unborn child at an early stage.
Professor Zhuang and director of the centre, Dr Zhou Canquan, are far more
excited than worried about a technical breakthrough that puts them ahead of
other IVF scientists in China. Both insist it is worthwhile helping couples
avoid giving birth to children with hereditary diseases. People who are not
sufferers or carriers of hereditary diseases have approached Professor
Zhuang about doing gender tests, but he has rejected their requests.
An awesome task for the professor now is to cope with the heavy demand for
training in genetic testing from fellow doctors and students on the
mainland. "The technique solves the problems of some couples, and the need
for it is especially big among those with thalassemia. About 8.3 per cent of
the population in southern Guangdong are carriers of that disease.
The chances of the technology being abused are limited, as this is not an
easy technique," says Professor Zhuang, who in September will chair the
first conference on reproductive medicine involving mainland, Hong Kong and
Taiwanese doctors. His centre has enjoyed increased popularity over the past
decade although demand for the PGD test, introduced in 1998, is limited. Its
services are also open to people from outside China. Among the more than 600
babies conceived with technical assistance from the centre since 1990 are
children of Hong Kong people.
The lack of regulations on the mainland however has sometimes led to
difficult situations. Professor Zhuang recalls a patient who had emigrated
to the United States but returned to Guangzhou for IVF. The embryos of twins
were later implanted into the uterus of her sister, who lives in Sansui,
near Guangzhou. At the time of birth, the hospital in Sansui refused to
certify that the woman from the US was the twins' real mother.
Professor Zhuang has no idea what happened afterwards, or whether the twins
have returned to the US with their true parents. "The law lags behind
technology, especially in China," he says. "There needs to be a national
body devising and promoting ethical guidelines for centres offering
reproductive technology."
In Hong Kong, commercial surrogacy is a crime under the latest legislation.
A council on human reproductive technology has also been set up to
administer a code of practice for obstetricians and gynaecologists in line
with the spirit of the legislation. One ethical guideline is to avoid sex
selection of a child under the guise of avoiding hereditary diseases.
One council member, Dr Edward Loong Ping-leung, says the council does not
consider haemophilia and colour blindness as diseases severe enough to
warrant a sex test on an embryo. "The council does not accept gender
selection for hereditary diseases that are not severe. But it is
controversial what constitutes severe diseases and it depends on what a
society thinks. Some parents like to keep their child even if it is found to
have Down's Syndrome."
Understandably, on the mainland, couples' tolerance of children with some
sort of congenital abnormality could be lower than elsewhere, given the "one
child" policy. Dr Zhou, the director of the Guangzhou centre, supports
parents who want a perfectly normal child.
"It does not matter to us what the gender of a child is. But parents should
have a choice over whether to have a child carrying genes for diseases," he
says, while agreeing there is a need for some sort of regulation.
"Hong Kong has an active policy controlling the use of reproductive
technology, but it deprives people with mild hereditary diseases of
producing normal children. Those people have to take a risk. The technology
is a means to raise the quality of children."
Linda Yeung (linday@scmp.com) is a staff writer for the Post's editorial
pages.
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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - (Fwd) Arutz-7 News: Tuesday, July 18, 2000
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2000 20:33:45 -0400
------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date sent: Tue, 18 Jul 2000 17:56:21 +0300
To: arutz-7@arutzsheva.org
From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@IsraelNationalNews.com>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Tuesday, July 18, 2000
Send reply to: netnews@a7.org
Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Tuesday, July 18, 2000 / Tammuz 15, 5760
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TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. AGREEMENT IS CLOSE; GRAVE CONCERN IN YESHA
2. ARMY "READY" FOR PALESTINIAN VIOLENCE; ARE SETTLEMENTS?
3. PALESTINIANS EXPECT FULL "RIGHT OF RETURN"
4. BARAK'S BUSINESSMEN ADVISORS
5. RANKS OF HUNGER STRIKERS GROW
6. GOVERNMENT MKs IGNORE JORDAN VALLEY
7. CHILD-ALLOWANCES TO BE RAISED
8. ELECTRIC BUS PASSES FIRST TEST
1. AGREEMENT IS CLOSE; GRAVE CONCERN IN YESHA
Reports are mounting that some form of agreement, featuring the division
of Jerusalem, is close to being signed in Camp David. The plan under
discussion apparently involves the absorption of Gush Etzion, Ma'aleh
Adumim, and Givat Ze'ev into the Jerusalem municipality, in exchange for
the awarding of some form of Palestinian sovereignty over several Arab
neighborhoods in eastern Jerusalem.
Cabinet Secretary Yitzchak Herzog, together with Haifa Mayor Maj.-Gen.
(res.) Amram Mitzna and Barak aide Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yossi Peled, will
conduct a briefing for Israeli reporters this afternoon/evening at Camp
David. The Yesha Council has slated a press conference as soon as the
briefing ends. U.S. President Clinton is expected to delay his
departure for Japan by several hours.
On the other hand, Arafat is still reportedly not satisfied with Barak's
concessions on Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees, and Yesha settlements;
the Palestinians are demanding complete sovereignty over the Old City of
Jerusalem, exclusive control over the mountain aquifer, Israel's
recognition of its responsibility for the refugee problem, and a
complete Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 borders, except for Gush
Etzion, Ma'aleh Adumim and Ariel.
Heavy pressures have been exerted by Clinton upon Prime Minister Barak
and Yasser Arafat to sign even a partial agreement before his departure
for Japan, scheduled for tomorrow. Intense discussions have been held
late into the night and early morning hours. Yediot Acharonot reported
this morning that the summit had failed, and that Barak had decided to
return home tomorrow.
Yediot Acharonot, whose editorials of late have been generally in favor
of the direction Barak is taking in Camp David, writes today, "Haste
makes waste" - and takes exception to the fact that the talks are being
pushed along to suit U.S. President Clinton's schedule. While the
editors acknowledge that the White House lawn ceremony and the Nobel
Peace Prize are very important to Bill Clinton, "they are not [as]
important for the State of Israel..." The fact that Clinton is going to
Japan should not be a factor, the paper writes: "We waited patiently in
exile for 2,000 years.
We returned home. We endured the Holocaust and wars. More than 20,000
people perished along the way so that we could reach the moment of
truth. And now we should hurry up just because His Excellency the
President is going to Japan? No way. Peace has waited and will wait."
2. ARMY "READY" FOR PALESTINIAN VIOLENCE; ARE SETTLEMENTS?
Meanwhile, the IDF claims to be "prepared" for Palestinian riots
anticipated in Judea and Samaria should the summit fail. Senior army
commanders have assured Yesha leaders and residents over the past few
days that the IDF is ready to squelch the expected wave of uprisings.
One issue of concern is the threat of mass Palestinian marches by
unarmed Arab women and children on Jewish settlements - which the army
now claims it has figured out how to "deal with." Until now, leading
IDF officers such as Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Sha'ul Mofaz have said that
such marches and attempts to penetrate Jewish towns would be treated as
any other "threat to Israeli lives." However, the army has now
formulated its plans for marchers who are still outside the settlements:
Among other measures, a special unarmed force will be dispatched to
form a human chain to block their progress.
Ha'aretz correspondent Amos Harel reports today that the forces will be
specially-trained in the dispersion of demonstrations. In place of
infantry, policemen and female soldiers will be preferred. Nevertheless,
the paper says, IDF snipers will be deployed behind the unarmed forces
in the event that Palestinian gunmen placed behind the women and
children open fire on the unarmed soldiers. Harel also reports that the
army will utilize new methods of breaking up violent crowds, including
water and dye-spraying tanks and giant nets dropped from the air.
Arutz-7's Kobi Sela reports that at least some Palestinian elements
foresee a violent post-Camp David period ahead: Jewish drugstores in
Jerusalem, Ofrah, and Michmash were robbed this week of almost all their
medicines, while the money in the cash registers was ignored. Security
has been beefed up around pharmacies, and instructions have been given
to Yesha residents to be on the alert. Many of the Yesha settlements
are simply not ready for that which the army considers to be a
not-unrealistic scenario: the storming of their towns by Arab civilians
or soldiers. Arutz-7's Effie Meir reports that measures that must be
taken include: preparing the residents, gathering weapons and first-aid
supplies; walkie-talkie equipment in case phone lines and cellular relay
antennas are destroyed; water and food supplies; determining regulations
for opening fire; coordination between neighboring communities;
fortifying guard positions; and more.
3. PALESTINIANS EXPECT FULL "RIGHT OF RETURN"
Arutz-7 spoke today with Middle East affairs expert Prof. Dan Shiftan on
the as-yet unresolved issue of Arab refugees. "Do the Palestinians
really expect Israel to recognize the Right of Return and allow millions
of refugees to enter?" asked News Editor Haggai Segal. Shiftan:
"Most definitely yes. Israelis have for some reason adopted the myth
that
the Arabs wouldn't really insist on this, because it was unrealistic,
etc. But this is not true... I have been saying for a while that the
Arabs are convinced that whatever Israel says 'no' to, soon first the
left, then the center, begins to say 'maybe,' and then in the end it
even becomes 'yes!' For instance, with the Golan: the Syrians now
demand not only the entire Golan Heights, all the way up to the
international border, but even areas that Syria conquered between '48
and '67 - and Israel is not far from agreeing! Refugees, too -
[although Israel's position has always been that no Arab refugees would
ever be allowed to return,] Barak has already agreed to allow 100,000 to
enter for humanitarian and family-reunification reasons. This
humanitarian aspect is the last thing that interests the Palestinians -
they have been harming the humanitarian interests of individual
Palestinian for decades. They are interested in the 100,000 for other
reasons: they see this as the beginning of the delegitimization of the
State of Israel, as it means that this land is really Palestine, and
that the Jews expelled the Palestinians, who must now be allowed to
return.
They know that this spells the liquidation of Israel..."
Segal: "It will be claimed that not many more than those 100,000 will
want to live in Israel anyway..." Shiftan: "This is categorically not
true. They know that the Palestinian state will be an oppressive,
third-world country for a long while to come, while Israel is a
first-world country, where they can live off the child-allowance
payments alone..."
4. BARAK'S BUSINESSMEN ADVISORS
The Supreme Court has addressed the issue of Barak's private
businessmen-associates representing Israel in Camp David. The Court
issued a restraining order obligating the State to explain within five
days why the Prime Minister should not be prevented from utilizing Yossi
Ginosar - whose business ties with the Palestinian Authority are
well-documented - as a special advisor in the talks with the
Palestinians. The decision was in response to a suit by MK Tzvi Hendel
(National Union). Another hearing will be held one month from now.
The Court will rule later today on a petition by Likud MK Limor Livnat
and the B'Tzedek legal organization, who demand an immediate end to the
employment of Barak-friends Yoni Koren, Tal Silberstein, and Moshe Gaon
as publicists in Washington. Barak decided last night that the three
should continue in their positions, despite the objections of Public
Service Commissioner Shmuel Hollander. Atty. Eli Shmuelyan,
representing MK Livnat, cited Silberstein's connection to the Barak
associations-scandal, still under investigation. "State Comptroller
Goldberg determined that Silberstein's behavior crossed the lines of
buying political power," Shmuelyan said. "In addition, State employees
are covered by an intricate network of regulations: they are obligated
to operate with the interest of the country in mind; they cannot
receive gifts; they cannot release private information while in service
of the state, etc. None of these rules apply to private businessmen!
Here are three private citizens sitting in Israeli government offices
and issuing orders to government employees..."
5. RANKS OF HUNGER STRIKERS GROW
MK Yuri Stern (Yisrael Beiteinu) has joined the nearly two dozen hunger
strikers in the Rose Garden outside the Knesset. It is now eight days
that they are protesting Barak's trip to Camp David and the major
concessions he is apparently making there. The leaders of the strike
are calling upon the public to join them.
6. GOVERNMENT MKs IGNORE JORDAN VALLEY
The Labor/One Israel Knesset faction has, for the second time in several
weeks, cancelled its planned trip to the Jordan Valley. Members of the
National Kibbutz Movement and residents of the North Dead Sea
communities sent a letter of protest and disappointment to coalition
whip MK Ophir Pines-Paz. The letter asks how the refusal to meet with
the Jordan Valley residents can be reconciled with recent declarations
of support for continued Israeli sovereignty over the area sounded by
One Israel MKs. Barak, according to all reports, has agreed to give away
control of the strategic Jordan Valley and its communities to the new
Palestinian state.
7. CHILD-ALLOWANCES TO BE RAISED
The Knesset Labor and Welfare Committee, in a stormy session this
afternoon, passed a revised version of the child-allowance arrangement
for large families. United Torah Judaism's MK Shmuel Halpert sponsored
the bill, which increases - in compensation for inflation-related drops
in value - the monthly payment for a family from the fifth child and
upwards. Parents receive the payments for children up to the age of 18;
an increase to age 21 had been considered, but was rejected. Neither
does the bill allow a blanket exemption from municipal taxes; these two
changes will save over one billion shekels, such that the bill will cost
the government just under half a billion shekels. The Arab MKs
supported the bill, while One Israel and Shinui were vociferously
against.
8. ELECTRIC BUS PASSES FIRST TEST
Israel's Electric Fuel Corporation has announced that it has
successfully completed the first actual driving tests of its all-battery
electric bus. Business correspondent Seth Vogelman reports that the
40-foot, first-of-its-kind battery-powered transit bus was designed to
provide a full day's operation - including air-conditioning and a full
passenger load - with zero emissions. The bus is equipped with Electric
Fuel's ZincAir energy system, which stores a record 320 kilowatt-hours
of energy on board the bus. Electric Fuel has manufacturing and
research and development facilities in Israel and Alabama.
Hebrew News Editor: Haggai Segal and Haggai Seri
English News Editor: Hillel Fendel and Ron Meir
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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Weekend News Today (7/18/00)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2000 20:40:00 -0400
Important Announcement Expected
Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: Arutz-7
Tue Jul 18,2000 -- White House officials claim that Clinton has given
instructions to prepare the East Room for a ceremony or important
announcement today or tomorrow. Arafat is reportedly not satisfied with
Barak's concessions on Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees, and Yesha
settlements; the Palestinians are demanding complete sovereignty over the
Old City of Jerusalem, Israel's recognition of its responsibility for the refugee
problem, and a complete Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 borders, except
for Gush Etzion, Ma'aleh Adumim and Ariel.
Editor's note: If the announcement is made after about 11 EDT, then it will be
Tammuz 17, Jerusalem time. This is the fast of the fourth month of Zechariah
9:19 and is an important day biblically and in the histroy of Israel. The
following are some of the events that have happened on 17 Tammuz: this sin
of the golden calf is committed, Moses breaks the tablets of the Law, Levites
kill 3000 Israelites and become set-apart for God, the daily sacrifices are
stopped in the first Temple, Jerusalem walls are breached and Titus takes
control of the outer part of Jerusalem.
Virus Strikes State Department Computers at Peace Summit
Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: TampaBay Online
Tue Jul 18,2000 -- State Department computer equipment being used in the
Mideast peace talks to route, send and receive e-mail was struck by a virus
over the weekend, clogging computers with junk messages. Unclassified
computers used by the State Department's public diplomacy section were
affected by the virus, taking hold during the weekend. The virus, called
Stages, sent itself out to journalists and other people in the contact lists of
infected State Department users. A State Department spokeswoman had no
specific information regarding the effects of this infection.
Interscan, an antivirus program made by Cupertino, Calif.-based Trend Micro
that was designed to stop such attacks, went down sometime during the
weekend, said State Department spokeswoman Julie Reside. The
breakdown allowed the infection to travel through the Internet gateway and
affect the servers. The department's other classified and unclassified servers
were not affected, she said.
Syrian - Egyptian summit expected very soon
Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: Arabic News
Tue Jul 18,2000 -- The al-Khaleij daily issued in Sharja on Saturday quoted
sources in Cairo, Damascus and Amman as saying that a bilateral Egyptian-
Syrian summit will be held in Egypt very soon bringing together Presidents
Bashar al-Assad and Hosni Mubarak. The paper said that news reports
issued in Amman remarked that the summit will be held in Alexandria within
the few coming days and will concentrate on bilateral relations,
developments on the Arab arena and the ME peace process especially on
the Syrian track.
Liberal Labor affiliate to be appointed rabbi of the Western Wall
Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: IsraelWire
Tue Jul 18,2000 -- Minister of Justice Yossi Beilin is taking advantage of his
temporary status as Minister of Religious Affairs to appoint a new rabbi for
the Western Wall. The candidate is Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, who is
affiliated with the Labor Party and is a former advisor to Shimon Peres. The
religious parties are fuming, calling the move "scandalous" and "crossing the
red line".
Chief Rabbinate to become autonomous body
Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: IsraelWire
Tue Jul 18,2000 -- The Chief Rabbinate will become an autonomous body
under the authority of the Prime Minister's Office and not the Ministry of
Religious Affairs, according to a decision by Minister of Justice Yossi Beilin,
who is currently serving also as Minister of Religious Affairs, in accordance
with a request from the two chief rabbis. The ramification of the change is
that the chief rabbis will be the ones to appoint chief rabbis of cities and
neighborhoods, giving them additional political power, instead of the
politicians in the Ministry of Religious Affairs. Last weekend the two Chief
Rabbis, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau and Rabbi Eliyahu Bakshi Doron, turned to
Prime Minister Ehud Barak, and suggested that the timing was right, with
Shas and the NRP out of the government, to remove the Chief Rabbinate
from under the thumb of the Ministry of Religious Affairs.
http://www.upway.com/cgi/readnews.cgi?day=00_07_18&item=#963963205
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