BPR Mailing List Digest: 07/21/00

Philologos
BPR Mailing List Digest
July 21, 2000

Digest Home | 2000 | July, 2000

To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Re: Jerusalem
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("John ")
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 07:15:07 -0400

> Is anyone praying without
> ego-involvement? Just wondering. Thank you. Cynthia

What does this mean, Cynthia?

John

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========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - NASA confirms Greenland ice cap melting
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 08:46:32 -0400

NASA confirms Greenland ice cap melting

July 20, 2000
Web posted at: 2:05 p.m. EDT (1805 GMT)

(CNN) -- An ice cap covering much of Greenland is shrinking rapidly and
releasing enough water to raise sea levels, according to a report released
Thursday.

NASA scientists flew over Greenland in 1993 and 1994, and again in 1998
and 1999, using airborne lasers to measure the thickness of the ice sheet,
which covers nearly 85 percent of the island. Their research shows it is
thinning around the edges at a rate of about three feet (1 meter) a year.

Ice at the center of Greenland is becoming slightly thicker. But as it turns
out, that progression is the result of weather changes related to the loss of
ice over the remainder of the island, NASA scientists said.

After Antarctica, Greenland's ice cap contains the second largest mass of
frozen freshwater in the world. The Arctic island has a net loss of about 50
billion gallons (227 billion liters) of ice each year, which can cause a
measurable rise in sea levels.

In one lifetime, the rise would be nearly 1 centimeter (0.4 inches), if the rate
were to remain the same, according to NASA's Goddard Space Flight
Center, which coordinated the study research.

Should that rate increase, or other factors push the level higher, the result
could prove disastrous.

"When you consider a flat beach, an inch in sea level rise covers a large
horizontal distance," said NASA researcher Waleed Abdalati. "There are
instances where there are large storm events because the water's closer to
the land. So it's something to be studied. It's something to be considered."

The NASA report, published in the July 21 issue of Science, does not
mention global warming. But some scientists note that the massive patches
of ice near the North and South Pole reflect sunlight back into space, helping
regulate the temperature of the Earth.

Correspondent David George contributed to this report.

http://www.cnn.com/2000/NATURE/07/20/greenland.ice/index.html

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

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - The song, "I'm Amazed"
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Sue")
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 04:56:33 -0800

I've been blessed by this song by an eleven year old girl. This address can
be opened by a free downloadable RealPlayer. Anyone else have favorite web
music? from "Sue"

http://phc.mpr.org/performances/20000415/ra_files/000415_first%20place%20award_28.ram

[Out of the mouth of babes, huh Sue? <g> Interesting that you bring this
song to our attention this morning. I was just talking to Moza about my
favorite singer - Rich Mullins - and how his words and music touched my
life. ]

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - July 21, 2000 TV Programs
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 09:23:16 -0400

8:00 PM Eastern

DISC - SEVEN WONDERS OF LAS VEGAS - Due to its extravagance,
the gambling mecca is better known as the city of
extremes.(CC)

9:00

PBS - THE GREAT WAR AND THE SHAPING OF THE 20TH CENTURY -
          "Mutiny; Collapse" - 1917 sees the mutiny of half the French
          army and revolution in Russia; time runs out for Germany at
          the front and at home as the United States enters the
          war.(CC)(TVPG)

DISC - DISCOVERY NEWS - (CC)

10:00

DISC - STORM WARNING! - "Storm Zones" - Severe weather of
Taiwan, Antarctica and the United States.(CC)(TVG)

TLC - UNDERSTANDING CAVES - Live in caves is different from
that aboveground.(CC)

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Re: Jerusalem
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 08:52:22 -0500

Rest assured, at some point a 7 year agreement will be reached with Israel,
and violated/broken 42 months into it...don't pray without
Bible-involvement, this is all working together for good...Shophar

-----Original Message-----
From: bpr-list@philologos.org [mailto:bpr-list@philologos.org]
Sent: Thursday, July 20, 2000 6:45 PM
To: bpr-list@philologos.org
Subject: [BPR] - Re: Jerusalem

As a devout Christian, who looked into converting to Judaism some years ago,
and who also feels compassion for the Palestinians, is there not a solution
to the issue of Jerusalem? An international city? I don't want to cause a
bru-ha-ha, I just feel that the controversy over a Holy Place for so many
could be resolved with God's help. Is anyone praying without
ego-involvement? Just wondering. Thank you. Cynthia

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Good Eye vs Bad Eye
From: bpr-list@philologos.org
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 09:16:46 -0500

Good Eye vs Bad Eye
owner-bpr@philologos.org
July 16, 2000

(Mat 6:22-23) The light of the body is the eye: if
therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full
of light. {23} But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body
shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is
in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

The above verses of scripture are interesting in that a
Hebrew idiom lies behind the interpretation. The phrases
"thine eye be single" and "thine eye be evil" would
probably be better translated as "thine eye be good" and
"thine eye be bad." Both of these phrases are Hebrew
idioms relating to being generous (good eye) or stingy (bad
eye) with one's material wealth. From the context one can
see that a comparison is being made two types of "eyes" --
one type in verse 22 and another type in verse 23. But
using our modern translations, or even the KJV, what
comparison is being made between a "single eye" (v. 22) and
"evil eye" (v. 23)? Single versus evil?

Commenting on Matthew 6:22, David Bivin writes:

"'If your eye is good' is an idiomatic way of saying in
Hebrew, 'if you are generous.' But our English translators
have not recognized this Hebrew idiom. Almost all
translations preserve the singular, 'eye,' even though
'eyes' would make more sense in English. Is it necessary
for only one of the eyes to be good? Which one, the right
or the left?...

"More variety exists in the translation of the word
'good.' Weymouth and the New International Version
translate literally. But obviously, 'good' in relation to
an eye means nothing in particular. (Weymouth tries to
solve this problem by translating 'eye' as 'eyesight' --
'If your eyesight is good'!) Other translators simply
guess at the meaning of 'good.' 'Single' is the traditional
translation of 'good' (King James, American Standard). Most
modern versions prefer 'sound'...Other suggestions are
'clear'...and 'pure.'" (Understanding the Difficult Words
of Jesus, David Bivin and Roy Blizzard, Jr., pp. 104-105).

From the Jewish New Testament Commentary by David Stern,
p. 32, commenting on his own translation of Matthew 6:22-23:

"If you have a 'good eye.' This is in the Greek text, but
the explanation, that is, if you are generous, is added by
me the translator because in Judaism 'having a good eye,'
an ayin tovah, means 'being generous,' and 'having a bad
eye,' an ayin ra'ah, means 'being stingy.' That this is the
correct translation is confirmed by the context, greed and
anxiety about money being the topic in both the preceding
and following verses. This passage is another link in the
chain of evidence that New Testament events took place in
Hebrew..."

Avi ben Mordechai, in discussing the term "peacemaker" in
Matthew 5:9 (another interesting word study by the way),
touches upon the phrase "good eye":

"This term 'peacemaker' is interesting in that it has been
redefined through the centuries since the Messiah, thus
contributing to the wrong sense of the idea today. In
Y'shua's day, a 'peacemaker' was one filled with
generosity, also known as having a 'good-eye.' The
antithesis of a 'good-eye' was an 'evil-eye,' or
stinginess. Y'shua addresses both of these concepts in
Mattityahu 6:19-34.

"According to Oral Torah, having a 'good-eye' meant giving
1/30th (or perhaps 1/40th) of the corners of your field
(Hebrew: Peah) to the poor. Having an 'evil-eye' meant
giving only the bare minimum of 1/60th according to the
letter of mishnaic law. An 'average-eye' or 'neutral-eye'
meant giving 1/50th." (Messiah, Understanding His Life and
Teachings in Hebraic Context, Vol. 1, Avi ben Mordechai,
pp. 184-185).

Avi ben Mordechai's explanation of these verses is so
enlightening when one realises that Y'shua's "Sermon on the
Mount" is better referred to as Y'shua's "Midrash
(teaching) on Torah Observance."

One of the verses Mordechai suggests that Y'shua was
probably drawing his words from is Proverbs 22:9 -- "He
that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth
of his bread to the poor." The word translated in the KJV
as "bountiful" is "tob" in the Hebrew (Strong's 2896, towb
or tobe) which means "good." Vine's Complete Expository
Dictionary (pp. 99-100) explains tob as meaning "good;
favorable; festive; pleasing; pleasant; well; better;
right; best. The commentary then goes on to say that "this
adjective denotes 'good' in every sense of that word," and
"tob is often used in conjunction with the Hebrew word
ra'ah ('bad; evil')" which is sometimes intended as a
contrast. (Also consider Prov 28:22 -- He that hasteth to
be rich hath an evil eye, and considereth not that poverty
shall come upon him. In the NIV, "evil eye" is translated
as "stingy." Also see Deut. 15:8-9)

This contrast of "good" vs "evil" is noted in the parable
of the landowner. Commenting on words of the landowner in
Matthew 20:15 -- "Is it not lawful for me to do what I will
with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?" --
Brad Young, in Jesus the Jewish Theologian, p. 136, writes:

"The saying of the magnanimous landowner alludes to the
Hebrew expressions 'evil eye' and 'good eye' which
suggested the sharp contrast between a generous person full
of kindness and a stingy, selfish individual. The generous
person with a 'good eye' is driven by a concern to help
others and to see their needs met. The selfish person is
consumed by one interest: what belongs to him or her."

And finally from the Soncino Talmud:

Mas. Shabbath 146a -- The phrase "...perhaps his intention
is to be generous..." is explained in the footnotes as
meaning, literally, "a good eye."

Mas. Sotah 38b -- "R. Joshua b. Levi also said: We give
the cup of blessing for the recital of the Grace after
meals only to one who is of a generous disposition
[footnote: Lit., 'good of eye', the opposite of bad of eye,
i.e., envious], as it is said: He that hath a bountiful eye
shall be blessed, for he giveth of his bread to the poor..."

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Re: Jerusalem
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Cynthia")
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 08:27:21 -0600

What I mean by no 'ego involvement' is simply praying for a win-win for
everyone - that God's will be done. I'll give you an example. I have
reared a Navajo child since he was 7 month's old. He's now 8 years old. I
hid him, fearing his abusive mother would somehow get him back, or that the
Tribe, under the Indian Child Welfare Act would take him.. Two years ago,
when I had to put him in school, without paperwork, I bottomed out. I gave
him to God. I relinquished my ego involvement. I prayed for what was
Good/God for him (my little boy). Two days later his mother called me and
told me that she had prayed and felt that I should have guardianship papers,
which I now have.

It seems simple to me, John. Can we not pray for Jerusalem? And ask God
for the answer? As a graduate in Political Science from Stanford I'm not
ignorant of the human difficulties. As a spiritual being, I know the
answers can be found in another realm.

Blessings, cynthia

[Moderator: I'm sure Cynthia is speaking of generalities when she
uses the words "we" and "you." As far as I know, she is not
directing her remarks to anyone person on the list. So don't
anyone get in a huff over it please. I believe she is just
reminding us of our duty to pray for the peace of Israel and
Jerusalem (Psa 122:6) *without* being prejudiced against the
Palestinians. That is, pray that God's will be done no matter
who or what groups "come out on top." God will take care
of the judging in His own time. In the meantime, we are
to pray. A friend just reminded me that peace will indeed one day
come to Jerusalem and many nations will come to worship
the Messiah on his holy mount. The road to that end takes
many turns it seems, but the outcome will be the same. The
peace that the world seeks now (a false temporary peace) is
not even comparable to the peace (shalom) that Jerusalem will
experience in the Messianic age.

(Micah 4:2) And many nations shall come, and say,
Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will
teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths:
for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of
the LORD from Jerusalem. (See also Zech 8:22ff) ]

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Re: Jerusalem
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("")
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 07:41:54 -0700

Hi Cynthia, the Bible tells us that , yes God is the
answer, but Man is seeking his on way. Because of mans
Rebellousness thier will be a War. This War will be the
Final War. Jesus tells us in his Word , to Pray for the
Peace of Jerusalem. Their will be Peace, But False
Peace.This Peace will be Under the Ruling Arm of the
Antichrist. Seek For Salvation. The only Hope we as
Christians ,JESUS CHRIST IN YOU THE HOPE OF GLORY. If thier
are any more question feel free to contact me.
(atorres@atmi.com) May God Bless You!

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Re: The song, "I'm Amazed"
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("-Rick-")
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 11:20:54 -0400

Nice song!

Thanks
-Rick-

----- Original Message -----
From: "Sue" <bpr-list@philologos.org>
To: BPR Mailing List <bpr-list@philologos.org>
Sent: Friday, July 21, 2000 8:56 AM
Subject: [BPR] - The song, "I'm Amazed"

> I've been blessed by this song by an eleven year old girl. This address
can
> be opened by a free downloadable RealPlayer. Anyone else have favorite
web
> music? from "Sue"
>
>
>
http://phc.mpr.org/performances/20000415/ra_files/000415_first%20place%20awa
rd_28.ram
>
> [Out of the mouth of babes, huh Sue? <g> Interesting that you bring this
> song to our attention this morning. I was just talking to Moza about my
> favorite singer - Rich Mullins - and how his words and music touched my
> life. ]
>
> _________________________
> To subscribe to BPR send a message to bpr-list@philologos.org
> with the word "subscribe" in the subject. To unsubscribe send a
> message to the same address with the word "unsubscribe" in the
> subject.
>
> See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.
>
>

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Re: Good Eye vs Bad Eye
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Jackie")
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 11:41:30 -0400

Good stuff. Another verse that supports this concept is

Deut.15:9,10 Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart,
saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be
evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto
the LORD against thee, and it be sin unto thee.
10 Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when
thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the LORD thy God shall
bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto.

Jackie

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - How the net works
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 13:04:23 -0400

How The Net Works - The Movie

Exactly what happens when you click an underlined hyperlink? Your simple
action triggers dozens of highly complex interactions between machines
connected to the Internet, sometimes all over the world. It's technical;
it's complex; and unless you're a hardcore geek, it's pretty boring. Until
now. The folks at Ericsson Medialab have made a wondrous animated movie
that actually gives Internet Transport Protocol a Holywoodesque
sexiness. Warning: If you have a slow Net connection, don't attempt to
pull down anything more than the "trailer", a modest 10MB download. But if
you have broadband, indulge yourself in the full 150MB version of this
astonishing film.

http://www.warriorsofthe.net/

via: websearch.guide@ABOUT.COM

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Regulatory foolishness abroad
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 13:04:23 -0400

..Regulatory foolishness abroad

    The Net happened to the US first. For years this country enjoyed a
    near-monopoly on clueless politicians laying waste to the medium in
    their bumbling attempts to render it inhospitable to terrorists or
    appealing to 6-year-olds.

    Now the rest of the world is catching up fast. Herewith a sampling
    from the outer limits of boneheaded lawmaking around the world.
    ____________

..France: unintended consequences

    In the wake of the ILOVEYOU virus, France moved to stamp out online
    anonymity within its borders [11], [12]. (The French distaste for
    anonymity predates the Internet by at least 150 years, as the note
    at [11] explains.) Now it appears that open-source development may
    suffer as a result of the proposed law. John Fremlin was quoted in a
    Freshmeat article [13]:

      > As written, [the law] would unambiguously prohibit hosting of
      > content of unspecified provenance; that is, sites on which
      > users could post material would be legally obligated to some-
      > how determine the true identities and postal addresses of
      > their users.

    Open Source projects never have such information about all of their
    far-flung contributors, and gathering it would be next to impossi-
    ble. Under the proposed law, open-source projects currently hosted
    on French servers would have to move outside the country's borders.

    This unintended consequence is particularly twisted given France's
    expressed preference [14] for open-source software over that from
    Microsoft.

    [11] http://tbtf.com/archive/2000-03-31.html#s04
    [12] http://www.vnunet.com/News/601295
    [13] http://freshmeat.net/news/2000/06/21/961587656.html
    [14] http://tbtf.com/archive/1999-10-24.html#4
    ____________

..Australia: streaming content = broadcasting?

    The Australian government is playing silly buggers with the coun-
    try's nascent online video and audio industry [15]. Recently passed
    legislation calls for a review of streaming content on the Austral-
    ian Internet by Jan. 1, 2001. The betting is that streaming content
    will end up equated with over-the-air broadcasting, forcing site op-
    erators to scramble for licenses -- which won't come available until
    2006. The minister responsible for reviewing the industry, Richard
    Alston, had said he planned to make no decision until next January,
    leaving a potential multi-billion dollar industry twisting slowly
    in the wind. An Internet Industry Association spokesman declared that
    the government had "defined the medium's commercial promise out of
    existence." But yesterday Alston appeared to back down [16], signal-
    ling that he didn't want to ban the internet industry from streaming
    video into Australian homes.

Thanks to TBTF Irregular [17] Eric Scheid for the story.

    [15] http://theage.com.au/bus/20000712/A823-2000Jul11.html
    [16] http://finance.news.com.au/0,3546,961328%255E462,00.html
    [17] http://tbtf.com/the-irregulars.html
    ____________

..Germany: taxing Internet use at work

    Germany has made a strong move in the rapidly spreading interna-
    tional contest to demonstrate maximal blind cluelessness about the
    Internet. The German newspaper Stuttgarter Zeitung broke the story
    [18] (commentary here [19]), which was picked up by the Heise news
    ticker [20]. All of these pages are in German. Jochen Schwarze, who
    alerted me to the story, kindly provided the English translation
    below.

    [18]
http://www.stuttgarter-zeitung.de/dc1/html/news-stz/20000714eins0003.shtml
    [19]
http://www.stuttgarter-zeitung.de/dc1/html/news-stz/20000714drei0005.shtml
    [20] http://www.heise.de/newsticker/data/fm-14.07.00-000/

      German financial minister Hans Eichel has proposed a draft de-
      cree [*] stating that private use of the Internet at work will
      be taxed from January 1, 2001. The tax office assumes that pri-
      vate use is common and will therefore be regarded as a 'mon-
      etary advantage' [**]. If the company or the employee cannot
      prove that the Internet access is granted for occupational rea-
      sons only, the complete Internet costs for that workplace may be
      regarded as 'geldwerter Vorteil' and therefore added to the em-
      ployee's taxable income. To avoid this, the employer has to
      forbid private Internet use completely AND is obliged to take
      random samples. Only if private use is ruled out by 'special
      circumstances' (like technical actions to allow access to cer-
      tain pages only) there will be no tax implications.

      [*] a 'decree' (German 'Erlass') is something that can be es-
           tablished by the ministry without having to pass the German
           federal parliament (Bundestag).

      [**] German tax idiom, 'geldwerter Vorteil' -- a 'monetary ad-
           vantage' is some service or benefit that you get from your
           employer beyond direct payment, for example free lunches
           or a staff car that you can use for free privately. You
           are obliged to pay income tax on the equivalent value.

      If, however, the employee has unrestricted access to Internet
      pages, the amount of 'geldwerter Vorteil' charged is based on an
      individual settlement. For this, the employee is obliged to take
      notes on the date, time, and duration of occupational use as
      well as the pages visited and for what specific reason.

      Industry representatives are in a rage about the proposed decree
      for a number of reasons like unjustified administrative effort,
      cost of logging all access, and tax revenues bearing no relation
      to expenses. They are now trying to get private Internet access
      declared a 'convenience' (like free coffee), so that it is not
      subject to taxes.

Press comments:

- Absurd and quixotic.

- Every employee with PC and Internet access will be a poten-
tial tax evader.

- An idea that could only be developed by people without enough
work to do.

      - Politicians issue soothing messages on Green Cards and the
        New Economy while at the same time burdening citizens with
        nonsensical tax regulations.

via: TBTF
T a s t y B i t s f r o m t h e T e c h n o l o g y F r o n t
http://tbtf.com/

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - What is Peace?
From: bpr-list@philologos.org
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 12:25:46 -0500

In thinking about my comments attached to one of Cynthia's notes on the
subject of the peace of Jerusalem, it occurred to me that perhaps my definition
of peace is different from that of others. (And my definition is still be "refined"
as I learn more and more from the Word). In my article I just sent out this
morning "Good Eye vs Bad Eye" I make mention of the term "peacemaker" and
how it makes for a good word study. A challenging verse, which may redefine
some of our own definitions of what "peace for Israel" means is to consider
the following verses:

(Num 25:5-13) And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, Slay ye every one
his men that were joined unto Baalpeor. {6} And, behold, one of the children
of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight
of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who
were weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. {7} And
when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose
up from among the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand; {8} And he
went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the
man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed
from the children of Israel. {9} And those that died in the plague were twenty
and four thousand. {10} And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, {11}
Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my
wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake
among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy. {12}
Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace: {13} And he
shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting
priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for
the children of Israel.

This weeks Torah reading is on this very topic. I think the timing of this
week's (and last week's reading concerning Balak) are remarkable in light of the
Camp David talks going on. Phinehas was given a "covenant of peace" by
HaShem *after* running a spear through a man and a woman. How does this
effect our own definitions of peace and what we pray for in regards to Israel?
No need to reply. Just something to think about.

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Bill Would Protect Babies Born After Botched Abortions
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 13:26:30 -0400

July 21, 2000 -- 1:24 pm

Bill Would Protect Babies Born After Botched Abortions

WASHINGTON, D.C. (CNSNews) -- After the Supreme Court overturned a
Nebraska law banning partial birth abortion, hearings convened in the US
House on Thursday to address the question of what defines a live birth.

"If a child born alive after a botched abortion does not receive the
protection of the law, what is to prevent an abortionist from simply
delivering a child and killing it," asked Representative Charles Canady
(R-FL), who has introduced HR 4292, The Born Alive Infant Protection Act
of 2000.

Canady said that the Supreme Court's ruling in the Nebraska case,
Stenberg v. Carhart, has extended the original 1973 Supreme Court
decision allowing mothers the right to abort "unborn children," Roe v.
Wade, to now include "the violent destruction of partially born children
just inches from birth." Canady worries that the Supreme Court may
continue along the same line of logic and allow babies who survive an
abortion to perish post partem outside the mother.

"The logical implications of the Stenberg Court's holding are both
obvious and disturbing," said Canady. "Consider what the Stenberg
decision means for a child who survives a botched abortion and is born
alive. If the right to abortion entails the right to kill without regard
to whether the child remains in the mother's womb, it would seem to
follow that infants who are marked for abortion but somehow survive have
no legal right to appropriate medical care, or any care at all."

Last year in Cincinnati, a baby girl was accidentally born at 22 weeks
after an abortionist performed the first step of a partial birth
abortion, i.e., dilating the mother's cervix. The child, dubbed "Baby
Hope" by hospital technicians, lived for three hours outside the mother
and without the aid of an incubator.

Canady said his legislation would protect babies such as "Baby Hope" and
give them the protection under the law afforded all human beings.

HR 4292 defines any infant member of the species homo sapiens, who is
born alive at any stage of development, as synonymous with the terms
"person," human being," "child," and "individual."

� 2000, www.CNSNews.com

http://www.mcjonline.com/news/00b/20000721c.htm

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Russia steps up expulsion of US evangelists
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 13:54:35 -0500

July 21 2000 RUSSIA
Russia steps up expulsion of US evangelists

FROM GILES WHITTELL IN MOSCOW

FOREIGN missionaries are being forced out of Russia and obstructed in their
work in greater numbers under President Putin than in the year before his
rise to power, British research has found.

The FSB, successor to the KGB, is often behind the harassment of
missionaries and may have been encouraged to act more boldly by a new
Russian defence doctrine that singles them out as a possible threat to
national security, according to the Oxford-based Keston Institute.

Seven cases cited in a series of reports by the institute, which began to
monitor religious freedom in the Soviet Union during the Cold War and was
itself denounced by the Soviet Union as a cover for spying operations in
1988, include the expulsion of 11 American missionaries from the autonomous
Muslim republic of Bashkortostan. They were accused of activities
"incompatible" with their humanitarian aid visas.

A second case involved the expulsion of a US missionary from the southern
city of Volgograd, where shortly afterwards a local newspaper quoted the FSB
as saying "practically all American religious organisations working abroad
are in some way connected with the US security services".

In February a letter to Russia's State Committee on Affairs of the North
from two officials attached to the presidential administration gave a
warning that the US is intent on "wresting away from Russia all of the Far
East". Central to this plan, the letter claimed, was "the religious invasion
of a huge number of American Protestant preachers".

The reports, based on several months' research throughout Russia, suggest
that a decline in freedoms for religious minorities has accelerated sharply
under Mr Putin, a practising Orthodox Christian and former KGB agent.

A little-noticed aspect of the defence doctrine that he signed last December
was its mention of such minorities "as a potential threat to Russia in terms
we have not seen in public documents since the end of communism", Lawrence
Uzzell, the director of the Keston Institute, said yesterday.

"It may be that we're seeing a darkening of the atmosphere under this
regime," Mr Uzzell added. "The National Security Concept is not an
instruction, but it seems to have been a signal to local bureaucrats that
it's now open season on religious minorities."

In the Bashkortostan case, the seven Protestant missionaries, together with
four children, were reportedly forced to leave by June 1 after the local
leader, President Rakhimov, was enraged to learn they had translated St
Luke's Gospel into the Bashkiri language.

The group's leader, who, like many missionaries, did not want to be named,
accused Mr Rakhimov of using the FSB "as his police force, to intimidate
people into submission".

The missionaries were told that "proselytism, or forcible conversion" was
illegal. A similar view was expressed yesterday by the Russian Orthodox
Church even though it has not been directly linked to the new wave of
expulsions.

"We do not welcome American missionaries because they do proselytising
work," a spokesman said. "We cannot have a common mission and we don't agree
with theirs."

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Scorned wives see way out of concubine culture
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 13:58:00 -0500

Published on Thursday, July 20, 2000

Scorned wives see way out of concubine culture
COX NEWS SERVICE

http://www.scmp.com/News/China/Article/FullText_asp_ArticleID-20000720034448
621.asp

In Guangdong province the saying goes: if a man doesn't keep a concubine, he
is not a success.

Well, there are a lot of successful men in Guangdong these days. So
successful, in fact, that some have acquired not only a second wife, but a
third or a fourth. It's called bao ernai in Chinese - quite literally "a
second wife". And like the concubines of traditional China, she gets money,
gifts and usually even a house from her married lover. She often even bears
him children.

"In Guangdong, the bao ernai phenomenon has reached the point where we can
no longer ignore it," Cui Shuhui, an official of the state-run All-China
Women's Federation recently told the Yangcheng Evening News , a Guangdong
daily.

The problem has become so serious that local law enforcers could no longer
wait for the mainland's outdated divorce laws to catch up. So last month,
four provincial law enforcement and judicial agencies issued a legal
"opinion" - which they claim has the weight of law - that makes it easier
for women to divorce husbands who have bao ernai.

The opinion entitles the wife to half of everything her husband has bought
for his mistress, even if the item, such as a house, car or stocks, is in
the other woman's name. If the wife has no hard evidence that her husband
has been cheating, the opinion allows police to help her obtain it.

Local women's groups, which had been demanding something be done to protect
the financial interests of wives, are overjoyed. Since the legal opinion was
announced, the phones at local offices of the All-China Women's Federation,
which operates at all levels of government, have been ringing off the hook.

The Yangcheng Evening News called the opinion a "huge bomb". One reporter
wrote that in two days of interviewing women, the phrase he heard most often
was: "I was so excited I couldn't sleep all night."

The Guangdong opinion has come just as the National People's Congress is
stuck into the process of debating a badly-needed revision of the marriage
law. Chinese society has seen huge changes since the law was last updated in
1980.

Divorce rates have more than tripled, domestic violence has increased, and
marriages now are based more on individuals' feelings rather than the old
standard of political or family ties. The current law gives few guidelines
on how to handle issues such as support payments, splitting assets and
custody of children.

"The decision to amend the law comes [as] Chinese society is increasingly
troubled by such social problems as proliferating concubinage and worsening
family violence," said Xinhua.

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Doubts on Phoenician mines
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 13:59:34 -0500

Doubts on Phoenician mines
Friday, July 21, 2000
ARCHAEOLOGY

LISA CREFFIELD in Sydney

http://www.scmp.com/News/Asia/Article/FullText_asp_ArticleID-200007210342178
13.asp

Archaeologists are sceptical about a Queensland pensioner's claim Australia
may have been colonised and mined by the ancient Phoenicians 3,000 years
ago.

Retired photo-journalist Val Osborn said he had discovered the site of a
3,000-year-old Phoenician mine and harbour in his home town of Sarina, North
Queensland.

Mr Osborn, 65, said his evidence included two artificial harbours, made of
boulders set in slag furnace cement, with a backfill road of mined ore
stone. The harbours were meticulously engineered, large and represented the
labours of many centuries, he said.

Mr Osborn said he also had found a bell temple that was "typical
Phoenician". The Phoenicians, whose sea-trading empire spanned the
Mediterranean, were "the only people in history who refined metals on the
beaches in dolomite brick-blast furnaces," and have also been credited with
discovering America. Their most famous leader, Hannibal, fought a
decades-long war against the Roman empire, before Rome razed the Phoenician
capital of Carthage, in modern-day Tunisia .

Sarina Mayor Kevin Morgan said he was convinced Mr Osborn's claims were
genuine, and was keen to exploit the tourism potential of the site. He
believed it would attract many of the visitors who bypassed Sarina in favour
of the nearby Whitsundays.

But archaeologists, who have not yet confirmed the find, said Mr Osborn's
claims were unlikely to be true. Tom Loy, of the University of Queensland,
said it was doubtful Phoenicians ever made it as far as Australia.

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - List/Site News
From: bpr-list@philologos.org
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 14:33:40 -0500

Hi,

I've just installed a new search engine on our site that adds
a good bit of functionality over our old search engine (which
didn't work half the time anyway). This search engine is
available from Picosearch -- http://www.picosearch.com --
for those that might want to check it out for their own sites.

At the moment, this new search feature is only available at
our BPR address (http://philologos.org/bpr) but I hope to
have it installed throughout the whole site this next week.
However, one nice feature of this search engine is that it
allows you to define where on our site you would like to
search -- the entire domain, BPR only, the Guide, the
Digests, etc. I hope you find it useful.

As for list news, I just want to suggest that if you wish to receive
private comments to any posts you send through, that
you should consider adding your email address to the bottom
of your messages.

Thanks,

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Real World News - 07/21/00
From: bpr-list@philologos.org
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 16:32:15 -0500

Selected Items from:

REAL WORLD NEWS
07/21/2000

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

BARAK SAID TO BACK SHARED RULE IN JERUSALEM AREAS
An Israeli cabinet minister said Friday that Prime Minister Ehud
Barak had accepted a U.S. proposal enabling Israel and the
Palestinians to share sovereignty over parts of Arab East
Jerusalem. Michael Melchior, part of Barak's public relations team
during a 10-day-old Israeli-Palestinian peace summit at Camp David in
the United States, confirmed what Israeli officials in the United
States had said only privately. Palestinians have yet to accept the
proposal.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000721/wl/mideast_summit_dc_46.html

ISRAEL TOUGH AT REVIVED CAMP DAVID TALKS
Israel pressed the Palestinians to bend on Jerusalem as a Middle
East summit plodded forward and President Clinton made plans to
shorten his trip to Japan and rejoin the marathon talks sooner than
expected. With Clinton off to a Group of Eight summit in Okinawa,
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright met separately with Israeli
Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat at Camp
David on day 10 of grueling talks that officially had been declared
dead less than 24 hours earlier.
http://www.lifelinenews.net/world/world2/world2.html

PALESTINIANS PROPOSE SHARING SOVEREIGNTY OF JERUSALEM
The Palestinians are proposing to share sovereignty over Jerusalem
without physically dividing it, Palestinian sources in touch with
the Palestinian delegation at Camp David told The Jerusalem Post
yesterday. The issue must be resolved along the principles of an
undivided city, where both sides share sovereignty, and its Arab
citizens have dual nationality, Bassam Abu Sharif, an adviser to
Arafat, said.
http://www.jpost.com/Editions/2000/07/21/News/News.9926.html

WEST NILE VIRUS FOUND IN MORE NEW YORK MOSQUITOES
The West Nile virus has been found in a new species of mosquitoes
north of New York City, but the discovery does not warrant a change in
existing precautions against the brain-swelling illness, U.S. health
officials said on Wednesday. The discovery was announced in Atlanta as
New York health officials said a man died on Wednesday after showing
signs of possible West Nile virus, which killed seven people in the
New York region last summer and has returned to the area.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000719/sc/health_mosquitoes_dc_3.html

FLORIDA HOSPITAL SHUTDOWN OVER ANTHRAX SCARE
Florida Hospital East was shutdown early Thursday morning when
several people came in and said they had been exposed, possibly, to
anthrax. The hospital opened back up later in the morning, but from
2:00 a.m. till about 5:30 a.m., the emergency department at the
hospital was closed off - quarantined - no one was allowed in or out because of
an anthrax scare.
http://www.insidecentralflorida.com/news/2000/07/20/anthrax_scare.html

PALESTINIANS THREATEN ARAFAT
President Clinton has pressed him to stay at Camp David, but Yasser
Arafat faces even more pressure from his own people and from radical
states such as Iran. Palestinian allies and critics continue to warn
Arafat not to concede on final status issues as most Palestinians are
said to be ready to reject any peace agreement signed with Israel.
Hundreds of Palestinians rallied in Ramallah and warned the
Palestinian Authority chairman that they would not accept any agreement that
concedes on their right to return to their homes in what is now
Israel.
http://www.worldtribune.com/index-three-text.html

RUSSIA'S ECONOMIC 'PARALYSIS IS OVER'
Russia's turbulent business climate is finally brightening, two
years after a currency collapse, economic crisis, scandal and
political turmoil sent foreign investors rushing for the door.
Since spring, there have been increasing signs that stability and
economic reform are taking hold, U.S. companies, business groups
and diplomats say. ''The paralysis is over. The dead hand of the
(Boris Yeltsin) administration is gone,'' says Scott Blacklin,
president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Moscow. ''We're
seeing a lot of companies coming back to check the market.''
http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20000721/2478660s.htm

POISON MUSHROOMS KILL 36 IN RUSSIA
Poisonous mushrooms killed six people over the previous 24 hours in a
southern Russian region, emergency officials said Friday. A total of
36 people, including five children, have died from eating the toxic
mushrooms in the Voronezh region this month, Emergencies Ministry
spokesman Alexander Zalyotov said. More than 200 others have fallen
ill from eating bad mushrooms in Voronezh, 300 miles south of Moscow.
Mushroom sales have been banned at local markets, and police patrol
the forests for mushroom pickers.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20000721/wl/brf_russia_bad_mushrooms_1.html

NATO CHOSE BELGRADE TARGETS FOR PROPAGANDA VALUE
NATO's missile attacks on Serbian television and Socialist Party
headquarters in Belgrade last year were specifically chosen to
maximise their international and domestic propaganda value,
according to senior US officials quoted by Jane's Defence Weekly.
The attacks - which killed 16 civilians and are among the most
controversial of NATO's campaign against Yugoslavian President
Slobodan Milosevic - were singled out by US officials in an article in
the latest issue of the magazine.
http://www.newsmax.com/uk/archives/articles/?a=2000/7/21/35633

CLERIC: TEN THOUSAND MUSLIMS READY FOR HOLY WAR
Thousands of Pakistanis called for holy war against India here
Friday as extremist leader Maulana Masood Azhar dramatically ended
months of silence after his release from an Indian jail. "Ten
thousand have joined us and are ready to give their lives in the
name of Islam," said Azhar in a speech at a mosque in this southern
port city. Police were deployed around the mosque as Azhar whipped
thousands of people attending Friday prayers into a fury against India, blamed
here for gross human rights abuses against Muslims in its zone of
Kashmir.
http://asia.dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/asia/article.html?s=asia/headl
ines/000721/asia/afp/Ten_thousand_Muslims_ready_for_holy_war__says_Pak
istani_cleric.html

PAKISTAN SAYS COULD USE NUKES IF ATTACKED
Pakistan would consider using nuclear weapons first if attacked by
conventional forces, its deputy foreign minister said Thursday.
``There is no way Pakistan can hold out any assurance that it will
not use any nuclear weapons if its existence is threatened,'' said
Inam ul Haque, the highest-ranking Pakistani official to visit
Germany since nuclear tests in 1998. ``There is no such assurance
on the part of India either,'' he said during a breakfast briefing
for journalists.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000720/wl/arms_pakistan_nuclear_dc_1.html

NUCLEAR PLANT SHUT DOWN AFTER QUAKE ROCKS JAPAN
A strong earthquake measuring 6.1 on the open-ended Richter scale
rocked eastern Japan Friday, forcing operators to shut down a
nuclear power plant and delaying bullet train services, officials
said. There was some minor damage but the tremor caused no
injuries, police said.
http://asia.dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/asia/article.html?s=asia/hea
dlines/000721/asia/afp/Nuclear_plant_shut_down_after_strong_quake_rocks_
Japan.html

INDIA CONSIDERS HOW TO SLOW ITS POPULATION GROWTH
The girl known as India's billionth baby has had few quiet moments
since her birth two months ago. Aastha Arora is so famous that
journalists show up unannounced at her family's cramped to see the
icon of India's rising population. With thousands of births every
day in India, Indian and U.N. officials decided that the child born
May 11 at New Delhi's Safdarjang Hospital would be the country's symbolic
billionth baby. On Saturday, the National Population Commission - set
up the day Aastha was born - will meet in New Delhi to discuss how to
slow India's population growth.
http://www.nandotimes.com/healthscience/story/0,1080,500230583-5003340
62-501907656-0,00.html

MOSCOW RADIO 'ENDORSES' GORE
The election of George W. Bush, apparent Republican nominee for
president of the United States, will mean the reappearance of the
arms race and a "nightmare scenario few people in America will
embrace," according to official Russian statements.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_westerman_news/20000721_xnwes_mos
cow_rad.shtml

PHYSICISTS SEE EVIDENCE OF ELUSIVE SUBATOMIC PARTICLE
Scientists have found the first direct evidence of the tau
neutrino, capping a two-decade search for one of the most elusive
and ghostly subatomic particles in nature. The breakthrough,
announced on Thursday, was achieved by scientists at the Fermi
National Accelerator Laboratory outside Chicago. The tau is one of
the fundamental building blocks of all matter. It is the last of
the impossibly tiny particles described in the Standard Model of
Particle Physics to be confirmed in experiments.
http://www.nandotimes.com/healthscience/story/0,1080,500230429-5003337
49-501904478-0,00.html

SCIENTISTS 'LOCATE' INTELLIGENCE
British and German scientists believe they have identified a
specific area of the human brain which appears to be responsible
for intelligence. The research - published in Science magazine -
found that a part of the brain called the frontal lateral cortex
was the only area where blood flow increased when volunteers
tackled complicated puzzles involving sequences of symbols and
letters. Their findings seem to support the 1904 theory of
psychologist Charles Spearman, who argued that people used a
particular part of the brain when performing complex tasks.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_844000/844217.stm

WAVE OF ATTACKS MOUNTING AGAINST CHRISTIANS IN INDIA
Another day, another bombing. That's the impression being created,
at least, by a mounting wave of attacks on Christians and churches
in India. Blasts from time bombs planted in churches have injured
Christians in at least three states. Several Catholic priests have
been murdered. Another was defended from a mob by his courageous
landlord, a Hindu woman who fended off the attackers with boiling
oil. Indian church leaders charge that many of the attacks are a
part of a campaign by Hindu extremists bent on intimidating Indian
Christians and driving missionaries out of India.
http://www.lifelinenews.net/candm/candm5/candm5.html

JOHNNY CHUNG COMMENTS ON HIS SPIRITUAL AWAKENING
"Despite my anger with this administration for the way it is
treating me, I am eternally grateful to God for His mercy and for
using this situation to bring me closer to Him. This ordeal helped
me realize that even when you think you have control over your
life, you don't. The Lord is ultimately in control of everything,
and He has a purpose for everyone, including me."
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_chung/20000721_xcchu_a_spiritua.shtml

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Current earthquakes
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 18:40:26 -0400

Current Time: Friday, 2000 July 21 22:36 UTC

Near Real Time Earthquake List
USGS NEIC Golden, Colorado

Updated as of Fri Jul 21 21:30:22 GMT 2000.

00/07/19 5.0Mb MARIANA ISLANDS REGION
00/07/19 4.7Mb RAT ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS
00/07/19 4.9Mb NEAR E COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
00/07/19 5.2Mb NEAR S. COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
00/07/20 4.7Mb SOUTHEAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
00/07/20 4.8Mb NEAR S. COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
00/07/20 4.6Mb NEAR S. COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
00/07/20 5.0Mb NORTHERN MOLUCCA SEA
00/07/20 4.7Mb NEAR S. COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
00/07/20 4.4Mb FIJI ISLANDS REGION
00/07/20 6.0Mb NEAR E COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
00/07/21 6.3Mw OFF COAST OF COSTA RICA
00/07/21 5.1Mb OFF COAST OF COSTA RICA
00/07/21 5.3Mb SUNDA STRAIT, INDONESIA
00/07/21 5.4Mb NEAR E COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
00/07/21 5.1Mb OFF COAST OF COSTA RICA
00/07/21 5.4Mb GUERRERO, MEXICO
00/07/21 5.1Mb SOUTH OF FIJI ISLANDS
00/07/21 5.0Mb OFF COAST OF COSTA RICA
00/07/21 4.1Mb HOKKAIDO, JAPAN REGION
00/07/21 4.6Mb OFF COAST OF COSTA RICA

http://wwwneic.cr.usgs.gov/neis/bulletin/bulletin.html

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Volcanoes erupting (7/17,20/00)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 18:45:32 -0400

July 21, 2000

Chilean Volcano Explodes

                     July 21, 2000 =97 Northern Chile's Lascar Volcano
                     exploded on Thursday in what volcanologists
                     termed a major eruption, which sent a cloud of ash
                     nearly 40,000 feet into the Andean sky. The
                     volcano, located about 1,000 miles north of the
                     capital Santiago, exploded at noon.

Lascar is the most active of Chile's 55 volcanoes
and is characterized by six overlapping craters.

                     The 18,346-foot-high volcano is situated in a
                     sparsely populated region, but the small
                     community of Talabre, originally situated in the
                     steep-walled area seven miles beneath the
                     volcano, was at constant risk from mud and lava
                     flows. Talabre was relocated to higher ground in
                     1987, and officials said on Thursday that its 150
                     residents are not currently in danger.

                     Carmen Fernandez, head of civil protection at the
                     National Emergency Office, reported that authorities
                     were flying over the mountain to determine if the
                     explosion is part of a larger eruptive process. She
                     said that activity earlier this month at Copahue
                     Volcano to the south was not related to Lascar's
                     eruption.

Popocatepetl Volcano Explodes

                     July 17, 2000 =97 Popocatepetl Volcano, 40 miles
                     southeast of Mexico City, exploded on Friday night
                     with a column of ash that soared more than a mile
                     into the sky.

                     The National Center for the Prevention of Disasters
                     said the eruption, which lasted about six minutes,
                     sent ash blowing northward, but no centers of
                     population were affected.

                     Volcanologists from the center reported that the
                     17,886-foot-high volcano released one exhalation
                     for about 15 minutes before stabilizing.

Popocatepetl came to life in 1994 after having
been dormant for close to 60 years.

                                      Japan Hit by
                                      Volcano, Quakes

                                      July 17, 2000 =97 Japan's
                                      Mount Oyama Volcano in
                                      the Izu Island chain
                                      exploded twice again on
                                      Friday, throwing up a
                     column of black smoke 5,000 feet into the Pacific
                     sky. Hundreds of tremors associated with the
                     volcanic activity jolted Miyakejima Island,
                     prompting authorities to evacuate 90 residents
                     from their homes. The eruption was followed the
                     next day by a powerful quake on a neighboring
                     island, and on Monday by yet another tremor in
                     Japan's western mainland.

                     Although there were no injuries reported from the
                     explosion, Miyakejima Deputy Police Chief Tatsuya
                     Takaguchi said that some parts of the island were
                     blanketed with as much as four inches of volcanic
                     ash.

                     The Japan Meteorological Agency reported that
                     almost 700 quakes were recorded in the first 18
                     hours of Friday.

                     On Saturday, a magnitude 6.2 quake hit the
                     neighboring island of Niijima, about 93 miles south
                     of Tokyo, triggering landslides and injuring at least
                     eight people. The temblor, which hit at 10:30 a.m.
                     local time, prompted government officials to
                     organize a task force at the official residence of the
                     prime minister to discuss measures for the
                     quake-stricken island. The Jiji Press news agency
                     quoted Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori as saying, "We
                     are preparing for any unexpected situation as
                     rescue squads and police are ready to take action
                     any time. Our priority is to protect people."

                     Dozens of landslides were caused by the powerful
                     quake, which blocked the only road to Wakago, a
                     fishing village in the north. One of the largest
                     slides stopped just feet from dozens of homes in
                     the community. Niijima official Sojiro Miyakawa
                     reported that all 275 residents of Wakago were
                     transported by ferry boat from the city.

                     Seismologists said that more than 1,900 tremors
                     were recorded during a 19-hour period on Saturday.
                     At one point, the number of tremors surpassed the
                     counting limit of the recording device at the
                     meteorological agency.

                     On Monday, a magnitude 4.6 quake jolted western
                     Japan at 8:00 a.m. local time, but officials said
                     there were no reports of injuries or damage.

                     The quake was centered in the west of Tottori
                     Prefecture, about 310 miles west of Tokyo, and
                     occurred 12 miles beneath the earth's surface.
                     Shaking was felt across a wide area of western
                     Japan, including the cities of Hiroshima and Kyoto.

http://www.discovery.com/news/earthalert/000717/index/volcano_index.html

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Infobeat News items (7/21/00)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 19:04:28 -0400

*** Hooters waitress awarded $275,000

NEWPORT, Ky. (AP) - A federal jury has ordered a Hooters restaurant
to pay $275,000 to a former waitress who claimed she was the target
of unwanted sexual advances and demeaning behavior. Sara Steinhoff,
24, filed a sexual harassment suit against a Hooters in Newport. The
restaurant is part of the Georgia-based chain known for its
waitresses, whose uniforms consist of tight orange shorts and low-cut
T-shirts. "I just hope this makes a difference," Steinhoff said after
the verdict was announced Wednesday. "I'm happy for the women (who)
are not going to be subjected to this type of atmosphere anymore."
See http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2568305442-d29

*** Russian scientist seeks asylum

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A Russian nuclear scientist who strongly opposed
his government's sale of technology to Iran has legitimate fears
about returning home and should be reconsidered for political asylum,
a federal appeals panel ruled. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
on Thursday ordered immigration officials to again take up the case
of Alexei Chouchkov, who worked for Atom Kor, a government-funded
research organization. In a 3-0 decision, the appeals court found
Chouchkov's claims of threats and intimidation to be credible and
that they rose to the level of political persecution. The Board of
Immigration Appeals cast doubt on whether Russian government
officials were behind the harassment. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2568305920-575

*** Israel makes Jerusalem concession

THURMONT, Md. (AP) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak has approved a
plan to place Jerusalem's Arab neighborhoods under Palestinian
administrative control, an Israeli Cabinet minister and other
diplomatic sources said Friday. The United States is trying to sell
the idea to Yasser Arafat. Under the U.S. plan, which embellishes an
Israeli idea, the Palestinian control would be extended to Arab
suburbs beyond the city. Reacting coolly to the ideas, Hasan Abdel
Rahman, Washington representative of the Palestine Liberation
Organization, said: "Short of total Palestinian sovereignty over East
Jerusalem there is not a ground for an agreement." The future of
Jerusalem is the toughest issue on the Camp David summit agenda as
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright pursues a settlement in the
absence of President Clinton. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2568306496-482 ***
Also: Albright mediates Mideast talks, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2568303637-068

*** Clinton, Putin disagree on missiles

NAGO, Okinawa, Japan (AP) - President Clinton and Russian leader
Vladimir Putin, who has been rallying worldwide opposition to
Clinton's plan to build an American defense from missiles, met
face-to-face Friday but didn't settle their differences. The
75-minute meeting, on the sidelines of the G-8 summit of the world's
wealthiest countries and Russia in Okinawa, came after Putin held
high-profile meetings in China and North Korea and signed up their
leaders as allies in his fight against the proposal. He fears it
would leave Russia vulnerable. Clinton and Putin issued a statement
saying the two would set up a joint U.S.-Russia center within a year
for exchange of data from systems that provide early warning in the
event of a missile launch. The U.S. missile shield proposal has moved
to center stage at the Okinawa summit. Putin was expected to use the
issue to drive a wedge between the United States and Europe. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2568305716-2c4 ***
Also: Clinton targets tensions in Okinawa, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2568300542-a3a

*** Wealthy nations discuss debt relief

NAGO, Okinawa (AP) - The world's wealthiest nations considered at
their annual economic summit Friday the need to let the world's
poorest countries wipe old debts from their books and share the
benefits of the current wave of prosperity. Meeting on this World War
II battleground, leaders of the seven largest industrial nations -
the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Canada
- devoted much of their opening discussions to ways they could speed
up the process of forgiving the heavy burden of debt on poor
countries or at least reschedule payments under more favorable terms.
The G-8 countries are also expected, before their discussions close
on Sunday, to offer increased help to fight AIDS in poor nations and
educate the estimated 100 million poor children not in school. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2568305218-029 ***
Also: G-8 nations cover myriad of topics, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2568307011-0bf

*** Jewish group decries new documents

WASHINGTON (AP) - Documents unearthed by the Simon Wiesenthal
Center indicate that the government of Hungary notified U.S. occupation
forces in Germany in 1947 that Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann was
in the U.S. zone, but U.S. authorities did not respond to the request
for his extradition for four years. Just a year earlier, Eichmann had
escaped from a U.S. prison camp. With the help of ex-Nazi officials,
he eventually got to Argentina in 1958. But the founder of the
Wiesenthal Center believes that if the United States would have taken
the Hungarian request seriously, Eichmann, who was in charge of the
"Final Solution" to exterminate the Jews of Europe, might have been
found far earlier. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2568302715-d7b

*** World Bank under fire in Russia

MOSCOW (AP) - Some Russian experts blame foreign aid programs for
feeding corruption and urge the World Bank and other foreign lenders
to clean up or clear out. These Russians say aid projects are well
intentioned but dismally executed, lining the pockets of corrupt
Russian bureaucrats and ignoring local needs. Aid to Russia is under
scrutiny at this weekend's summit of the world's richest nations in
Okinawa. More than eight years into its clumsy economic transition,
Russia is nominally part of the Group of Eight - but owes huge debts
to the club's wealthier members. Lenders insist they are doing their
best to help, but say their projects are sometimes derailed by the
requirement that aid funds travel through government channels. That
opens the way for corruption and delays, they admit. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2568307102-0f4

*** Genocide research center launched

LONDON (AP) - Scholars from across the globe launched a genocide
research institute Friday dedicated to finding the cause of mass
killings so that the crimes are not repeated. The Genocide Prevention
Research Initiative, billed as the world's first such institute, will
bring together scientists and scholars to research the causes of
genocide. "Every time, we say it must never happen again - but we are
still no nearer to understanding when and why genocide will recur,"
said Stephen Smith, co-founder and director of the Beth Shalom
Holocaust Memorial Center in Nottingham, which led the drive to
create the institute. The institute will provide information to
governments, politicians and individual groups so trouble spots can
be tackled early. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2568304013-2ac

*** India mulls population explosion

NEW DELHI, India (AP) - The newborn girl known as India's billionth
baby has had few quiet moments since her birth two months ago. Aastha
Arora is so famous that journalists show up unannounced at her
family's cramped, one-bedroom house to see the icon of India's rising
population. With thousands of births every day in India, Indian and
U.N. officials decided that the child born May 11 at New Delhi's
Safdarjang Hospital would be the country's symbolic billionth baby.
That baby turned out to be Aastha. Since her widely covered birth, an
additional 3.5 million babies have been born in India. In 1952, the
country began a national program to stabilize its population, the
first nation to do so. But planners paid little attention to
population growth. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2568298322-fdb

*** Victim's brother executes killer

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Thousands of spectators pleaded Friday to
spare the life of a convicted killer but then watched the brother of
one of his victims cut his throat in the first public execution in
the Afghan capital since November. Hundreds of women in
all-enveloping burqas were among an estimated 4,000 people who filled
the seats of the Kabul sports stadium, witnesses said. Mohammed Daoud
had been convicted of killing two men, identified only as Samiullah
and his cousin Nasimullah, in an eastern neighborhood of Kabul. It
wasn't clear when the killing had taken place. Under the Taliban's
strict interpretation of Islamic law, the victim's family can execute
the convicted killer. But the law also allows the family to forgive.
See http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2568304280-b4a

*** Ecuador man gets house stolen

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) - An Ecuadorian merchant said he returned home
from a business trip only to find his house and everything in it had
been carried away by thieves, police said. The man, identified as
Fulton Porozo Quinonez, told police in the port city of Guayaquil,
165 miles southeast of the capital, Quito, that he found only a
vacant lot last week where his modular home had been. Quinonez said
neighbors confirmed that four men had disassembled the house, which
he had bought a year earlier, and carried it off from the northern
Guayaquil neighborhood. Quinonez has been staying in a hotel while
the investigation continues, police said Thursday. ###

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