BPR Mailing List Digest: 06/09/00

Philologos
BPR Mailing List Digest
June 9, 2000

Digest Home | 2000 | June, 2000

To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Infobeat News items
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Fri, 9 Jun 2000 12:13:41 -0400

*** Palestinians fire on each other

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Palestinian intelligence officers opened
fire on each other at their headquarters Thursday and two agents were
injured, in an apparent eruption of an internal power struggle. A
witness said the shootout involved about two dozen agents drawn into
a rivalry between the head of the intelligence service, Maj. Gen.
Amin al-Hindi, and his deputy, Tarek Abu Rajab. Al-Hindi said that
two officers opened fire on each other over a personal dispute and
that they were quickly disarmed. The witness said the agents were
holed up in two offices facing each other across a courtyard, firing
assault rifles and pistols and hurling several hand grenades in a
clash lasting several minutes. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2567189099-ab2

*** Palestinians arrest journalist

JERUSALEM (AP) - Palestinian intelligence agents arrested a
journalist after he appeared on a talk show and criticized the
closing of TV stations by the Palestinian Authority, family members
said Thursday. Maher Alami was called in for interrogation twice
before being arrested Tuesday in the West Bank town of Ramallah, said
Alami's son Amjad. No charges have been brought against him. Four
television stations were closed by Yasser Arafat's Palestinian
Authority in the past two weeks following a deadly outbreak of
rioting in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Frustration among
Palestinians has been building over the slow pace of the peace
process. Alami, who writes for a magazine, was arrested in 1995 for
refusing to put Arafat's picture on the front page of the leading
Palestinian daily Al-Quds, which led to the paper's closure for
several days. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2567189954-c2d

*** Syrians hope for economic benefits

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - There's a new kind of light illuminating the
streets of Damascus: the glow of billboards that have sprung up all
over the capital in the past few months. Backlit billboards, recently
introduced mobile phones and a U.S. hamburger chain that is about to
open are the latest manifestations of Syrians' eagerness to move into
the modern world of international trade and economic openness. Many
hope that a peace treaty with Israel will bring commercial
opportunities and provide an impetus to the slow-moving economic
reforms begun by the government in 1991. "The economic situation will
improve if there's peace in the region," said Ihsan Sankar, a
businessman and former member of parliament. "Peace will encourage
all those who'd like to invest in Syria." See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2567183520-a32

*** Feds OK heart monitor frequencies

WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal regulators designated specific slices of
the airwaves for wireless medical services that monitor patients'
heart, blood pressure or other functions from a remote location. The
action Thursday by the Federal Communications Commission assigns new
frequencies for the equipment's transmissions to avoid possible
harmful interference. Commissioner Susan Ness, noting the potential
of medical telemetry to save lives, said there should not be
obstacles "interfering with the ability of those devices to do their
magic." The service enables health professionals to keep tabs on
their patients' vital signs within a hospital or nursing home, but
from another room. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2567192303-5e8

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Ten Exchanges to Form Global Stock Market
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Fri, 9 Jun 2000 12:22:07 -0400

Wednesday June 7 2:11 PM ET

Ten Exchanges to Form Global Stock
Market

By Huw Jones

LONDON (Reuters) - Ten of the world's top stock exchanges
said on Wednesday they were planning to set up a 24-hour $20
trillion global market controlling 60 percent of the world equity
market.

The ambitious global equity market (GEM) project would be a
powerful and direct competitor to Nasdaq-backed iX, the
planned merger of the London and Frankfurt exchanges, which
faced fresh concerns on Wednesday.

The plan is being put forward by the New York Stock Exchange
-- the world's biggest bourse -- with the Tokyo Stock Exchange,
the Australian Stock Exchange, and bourses in Paris, Brussels,
Amsterdam, Toronto, Hong Kong, Mexico and Sao Paolo.

                         ``The (GEM) global equity
                         market project is the first attempt
                         to create a world exchange
                         working 24 hours a day,''
                         Euronext President Jean-Francois
                         Theodore said in a statement.

Euronext, the planned merger of bourses in Paris, Brussels and
Amsterdam, said working groups were already in place to
discuss round-the-clock trading in the 10-fold alliance.

``This is something that has been predicted and speculated upon
for some time,'' said Lee Cook, head of European equities
trading at U.S. investment bank J.P. Morgan & Co.

``I am a little surprised by the participants. It's a big drawback
that the LSE and Deutsche Bourse and Nasdaq aren't involved,''
Cook said.

The big dealers would prefer one single global platform to avoid
duplicating technology investment costs and the emergence of
two powerful rivals makes this more difficult to achieve.

GEM would trade in big name, international stocks by linking
exchanges in three time zones -- Asia-Pacific, Europe-Middle
East-Africa, and North and South America.

Order-driven trading in blue chips from the 10 exchanges would
be traded in an order book passed from one time zone to the
next, with regulation for each listing still coming under its domestic
watchdog, Theodore said in an interview on CNBC Television.

Thorny Issues Raised

Rapid advances in trading technology and a thirst for trading
along sector rather than national lines is making global trading in
the big liquid blue chips inevitable, but not easy.

``There are some real difficulties in doing so, both from a
regulatory and technology reasons,'' said Thomas Krantz, deputy
secretary general of the International Federation of Stock
Exchanges (FIBV), to which all the world's leading bourses
belong.

``Don't look for a worldwide capital market tomorrow, but just
because the challenge is daunting, it does not mean that it's not
worth trying to do some of it,'' Krantz added.

As with the iX plan to date, GEM's sketchy outline is likely to
raise questions about the impact of differing exchange
governance, tax, listing, regulatory and accountancy laws.

Styles of trading also vary, with the NYSE using a floor while
most are fully electronic. Some use central limit order books,
others don't.

Investors worry GEM will simply accentuate focus on the bluest
of the blue chips and leave the rest even further off the radar
screen.

``For Brazil, for its companies, the plan is good -- big companies
should be happy,'' said Roberto Dotta Filho, head of analysis and
stock trading at Tudor Asset Management in Sao Paolo. ``But
for the market it is pretty bad. All the money that could be
circulating here will now go abroad.''

Investment Banks Give Cautious Thumbs Up

Investment banks who already operate globally and generate
most of the world's trading volumes welcomed the 10-bourse
plan, but were concerned that it would create a division in
markets and leave the questions of clearing and settlement
unanswered.

``There is a growing need to provide 24-hour, global coverage
for our clients and any move toward that is positive,'' said J.P.
Morgan's Cook.

Sadakazu Osaki, head of the capital market research department
at Nomura Research Institute in Tokyo described the plan as
``epoch-making.''

``This (plan) would eventually divide global stock exchanges into
two powers -- one led by the iX, Nasdaq group and the other by
Euronext, NYSE, TSE and others,'' Osaki added.

Martin Korbmacher, co-head of Global Equities at Dresdner
Kleinwort Benson said making the GEM plan work would be
tough.

``I'd actually be very surprised if we are really much further on
than the stage where everybody is talking to everybody else,''
Korbmacher said. ``It would be very difficult to do.''

Korbmacher said a key difficulty would be settlement of equity
trades which have different cycles because of the three time zones
involved.

Investment banks say a seamless cross-border clearing and
settlement system would help cut trading costs to a much greater
extent than regional or global trading platforms would, and the
10-bourse announcement makes no mention of this aspect.

``If they get over political hurdles associated with managing the
link between exchanges, then it would be beneficial to investors in
terms of boosting liquidity and reducing costs,'' said Amy Butte,
an analyst at Bear Stearns in New York.

Ix Plots Separate Course

The LSE said it was not holding any talks with the group of 10
exchanges as the London exchange focused on completing its
merger with Frankfurt.

``There are no current plans to enter into agreements with
anybody else at this time,'' an LSE spokesman said.

The iX merger is facing opposition from British retail brokers,
fearing huge changeover costs.

Concerns about iX intensified on Wednesday when Europe's
biggest chemical company, BASF of Germany said it and several
other German blue chips were uneasy about the merger,
complaining they had not been properly consulted in advance.

BASF and others worry that Frankfurt's DAX index could be
scrapped, which could prompt investors to cut their holdings in
German blue chips.

The Deutsche Boerse said German blue chip concern was
unjustified and the DAX index would remain as long as needed.

Consolidation Continues Apace

NYSE and Euronext were already in tie-up talks, and on
Tuesday, NYSE Chief Executive Richard Grasso said NYSE
aimed to finalize a plan to link with Euronext in the next few
months.

Euronext has said it hopes eventually to strike an alliance with the
NYSE to rival the mighty iX-Nasdaq tie-up.

Last year the TSE, Japan's largest stock exchange, began talks
with the NYSE on a cross-trading structure.

Soon afterward Japan's second-largest bourse, the Osaka
Securities Exchange, decided on a tie with Nasdaq, making a
global alliance even more urgent for the Tokyo exchange.

Index compilers like Dow Jones and FTSE International have
already launched global blue chip indices such as the Dow Global
Titans and the FTSE multinationals index.

(Additional reporting from Yuka Obayashi in Tokyo, Adam
Jasser and James Mackenzie in Frankfurt, Isabelle Clary in Paris,
Joe Ortiz in London, Richard Jacobsen in Mexico City, and Jack
Reerink, Elizabeth Smith and Cal Mankowski in New York.)

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000607/bs/bourses_alliance_dc_1.html

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Body Shipped Home Without Vital Organs
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Fri, 9 Jun 2000 12:28:53 -0400

Thursday June 8 11:53 AM ET

Body Shipped Home Without Vital Organs

LA PAZ, Bolivia (Reuters) - Argentina has been asked to explain why the
body of a Bolivian man was returned to his family without his kidneys,
corneas, heart or liver, acting Bolivian Foreign Minister Fernando Messmer
said on Wednesday.

Miguel Quispe, 22, died in a traffic accident on May 11 in San Salvador de
Jujuy, Argentina, some 110 miles south of the Bolivian border.

An autopsy done on Tuesday in Cochabamba, Bolivia, where the body was
returned to Quispe's family, revealed his organs had been removed.

Messmer spoke to reporters after the Assembly for Human Rights
announced it plans to file a complaint about Quispe before the Inter-
American Commission for Human Rights.

The Bolivian Consulate in San Salvador de Jujuy initially issued a statement
saying the organs had been legally removed but later said it had asked for a
detailed explanation, Messmer said.

Freddy Hurtado, vice president of the Assembly for Human Rights, told
reporters he wanted information to prove that Quispe ``was brain dead and
was euthanized after being artificially kept alive for the organ harvest'' in
Pablo Soria Hospital in San Salvador de Jujuy.

An Argentine judge who authorized the procedure ``abusively applied a law
meant for Argentines to a Bolivian citizen,'' he said.

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000608/od/argentina_organs_dc_1.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] - 100,000 Condoms for Sydney Olympic Athletes
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Fri, 9 Jun 2000 12:31:32 -0400

Thursday June 8 11:53 AM ET

100,000 Condoms for Sydney Olympic Athletes

SYDNEY (Reuters) - More than 100,000 condoms have been ordered for
competitors at this year's Sydney Olympics.

Olympic organizers had already placed an order for some 50,000 condoms
but the official Olympic supplier said it expected to have to double that
number.

``We think they'll need about 100,000,'' a spokeswoman for manufacturers
Ansell said.

They would come in a range of colors, including gold, silver and bronze.

The spokeswoman said they were basing the figures on previous Olympics.
She said the condoms would be dispensed from large bins around the
athletes' village at Homebush Bay during the Games, which run from Sept.
15 to Oct. 1.

Organizers had originally planned to include free condoms in each of the
athletes' ``welcome to Sydney'' packs but later changed their minds.

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000608/od/olympics_condoms_dc_1.htm
l

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

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Russia/United States - Plutonium
From: bpr-list@philologos.org
Date: Fri, 9 Jun 2000 11:38:37 -0500

------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date sent: Thu, 8 Jun 2000 21:00:34 -0500 (CDT)
From: <alert@stratfor.com>
To: redalert@stratfor.com
Subject: Russia/United States - Plutonium

Stratfor.com's Global Intelligence Update - 9 June 2000

Know your world.
http://www.stratfor.com

Unintended Consequences: The Moscow Plutonium Deal

Summary

The Moscow summit failed to make any big breakthroughs on arms
control but purported to make a small breakthrough when the Russian
and American presidents agreed to destroy 34 metric tons of plutonium.
On the face of it, the U.S.-Russian agreement would seem to help the
cause of disarmament. But over the long term, it will achieve just the
opposite.

Analysis

At their summit in Moscow this week, U.S. President Bill Clinton
and Russian President Vladimir Putin initialed a landmark deal: The
United States and Russia pledged to destroy 34 metric tons of
weapons-grade plutonium, largely by using it for fuel in civilian
nuclear reactors. The agreement suggests a showcase of cooperation
between the two nations, eliminating fuel that could be used in
weapons of mass destruction.

But over the long term, this agreement may, in fact, worsen the
problem of nuclear proliferation. The Clinton-Putin agreement will
create a large-scale global civilian demand for - and supply of -
plutonium, a prime component in the construction of nuclear weapons.

According to the text of the agreement, Russia will turn its share of
the plutonium into a fuel called MOX, for use in nuclear reactors both
in Russia and abroad. The United States is adopting a similar plan for
25.5 metric tons of its plutonium; the remainder will be sealed in
glass and buried.

This swords-into-plowshares plan is designed to produce energy: A
single gram of plutonium can produce as much electricity as a metric
ton of oil. And Plutonium, unlike oil and other fossil fuels, produces
no greenhouse gases. Once the MOX is used up, the remaining plutonium
residue is no longer usable for nuclear weapons. To fund the deal, the
United States is sinking $200 million into Russia's civilian nuclear
industry and will ask the G7 in July to cough up the remaining $1.55
billion. The United States will pay for its portion, $4 billion, by
itself.

However, plutonium is more dangerous than uranium; it produces more
lethal radiation for a much longer period. It is also much easier to
adapt for use in nuclear weapons. And, of course, much of the MOX will
be used in converted Russian reactors, some of which are more than 20
years old. A Chernobyl-like accident involving plutonium would be far
more serious than the original one, which involved uranium.

The plan begins with a total of 10 American and Russian reactors. But
it would take these reactors 20 years to use all 1,000 metric tons of
VOX the agreement would produce. If the agreement is extended to the
rest of the American and Russian plutonium stockpile, this could
exceed 60 years. This is why the agreement would bring other countries
on board. Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Ukraine and the
United Kingdom have all expressed an interest.

Developing such a large market for MOX would serve other purposes as
well. The average uranium-fueled nuclear reactor produces 200 to 250
kilograms of waste plutonium per year. At the end of 1998 there were
345 reactors in total; that means the nuclear industry creates roughly
77 metric tons of plutonium waste annually.

This waste plutonium cannot be used to make nuclear weapons, and
disposing of it incurs much expense. This is partly why nuclear
power has fallen out of favor in most countries. By converting
plutonium to MOX, the American-Russia agreement would help turn
this waste into fuel, thus boosting an ailing American uranium
nuclear industry.

But developing a global civilian energy infrastructure with a long-
term need for plutonium-based fuel has a strategic cost. In order to
transform waste plutonium into MOX, it must first be purified. This
purified plutonium can be used for nuclear weapons.

To counter this concern, the United States insists it will
decommission all parts of its new plutonium industry once the
weapons-grade plutonium is destroyed, thus ending the proliferation
threat. But Russia has made it clear it intends to continue using
plutonium for fuel. So have other countries. Japan plans to have
one-third of its 53 reactors using MOX by 2010. There are already 30
reactors in Europe licensed to use the plutonium-based fuel. All are
simply waiting for a steady supply. The Clinton-Putin deal will build
the processing centers - several in Russia - necessary to ensure that
supply.

Almost all of the MOX reactors would be outside the United States and
thus beyond American control.

Suddenly, the disarmament deal looks much less appealing. On
average, every reactor that runs on MOX fuel will require four to six
metric tons of MOX - which contains 250 to 300 kilograms of
weapons-grade plutonium - a year. According to the Department of
Energy this is enough raw plutonium to make about 55 small nuclear
weapons. And with 77 metric tons of new civilian plutonium created
every year, the chances of losing a few kilograms here and there are
immense.

The Clinton-Putin deal will firmly establish a uranium reactor to
plutonium reactor link, setting the stage for a continual, global
proliferation hazard. The only other option is to bury the weapons
material as is, leaving it vulnerable to theft - an option the United
States shuns. But it is far easier to steal plutonium above ground
from one of potentially dozens of civilian facilities than from a
guarded underground site. By agreeing to the use of MOX as the
predominant method for disposing of plutonium, Clinton and Putin have
created a global - and permanent - proliferation nightmare.

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

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Scientists trace origin of HIV back to 1930s
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Fri, 9 Jun 2000 11:42:03 -0500

Scientists trace origin of HIV back to 1930s

BY NIGEL HAWKES, SCIENCE EDITOR
http://www.the-times.co.uk/

THE Aids virus had reached the human population by 1931, and possibly much
earlier, according to a team of British and American scientists.

They have worked out that today's strains of HIV had a common ancestor about
70 years ago. If true, this means that the virus cannot have originated in a
polio vaccination programme in Africa in the late 1950s, as a controversial
theory claims. By then it was already established in Africa.

A "family tree" of HIV was created using the variation between today's
strains as a clock to calculate the time it has had to evolve.

Since genes change at a constant rate, it is possible to work back and
estimate when the main strains split off from a common origin.

Writing in Science, researchers led by Bette Korba, from Los Alamos National
Laboratory in New Mexico, work out that this probably happened between 1915
and 1941. The most likely year was 1931.

The possibilities are that it was transmitted from apes to human beings near
the turn of the century and remained isolated in a small population until
that time, or that the virus jumped to humans in about 1930 and started
spreading immediately, or some years later.

In either case, the conclusions argue against the idea championed by Ed
Hooper in his book The River that polio vaccine grown on cells from
chimpanzees was the prime cause of the epidemic. This theory is now being
tested by examining samples of the vaccine to see if they contain HIV.

"Our analyses suggest that the HIV-1 M group ancestral sequence occurred
decades before the vaccination programmes and that the diverse subtypes were
well established by 1957," said the researchers, who included Mark Muldoon,
a mathematician at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and
Technology.

It is possible that the virus went undetected for between 25 and 60 years in
Africa. Aids was not identified as a clinical condition until 1981, but
retrospective studies have uncovered cases dating to the 1970s.

Genetic analysis has already shown that the two principal human
immunodeficiency viruses derive from species quite closely related to man:
chimpanzees for HIV-1, the deadliest form, which has killed 18 million, and
sooty mangabeys for HIV-2.

HIV-1's date of origin means that by the time of the polio inoculation
programme at least nine subtypes must have been established, and that if the
programme were the source, all nine would have to have been transferred to
human beings. As the virus is rare in chimpanzees, and only a few primate
kidneys were used to grow the vaccine, they conclude that "this seems
implausible".

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Plague of locusts devastates crops in Henan
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Fri, 9 Jun 2000 12:00:32 -0500

Published on Thursday, June 8, 2000
Plague of locusts devastates crops in Henan
MATTHEW MILLER in Shanghai

http://www.scmp.com/News/China/Article/FullText_asp_ArticleID-20000608030255
299.asp

The biggest plague of locusts in a quarter of a century is devastating land
and crops in Henan province.

This year's outbreak has affected 158,750 hectares in the province, about 80
per cent of which is in the province's Yellow River basin, according to
Henan's locust control office.

Insect density in the region has reached 2.96 locusts per square metre. But
in areas hardest hit, the density of locust offspring stands at 100 to 300
head per square metre, with some devastated areas reaching more than 4,000
head.

The outbreak has already resulted in the destruction of some summer wheat,
the Shanghai Morning Post reported yesterday.

The newspaper also said that while nearly 70 per cent of the area affected
had been brought under control, local attempts to treat the problem with
insecticides on the ground had in many cases proved unsuccessful. To combat
the infestation, the province was preparing an aerial chemical assault
starting this week.

This year's locust outbreak is directly attributable to a warm winter and
lingering drought that is affecting millions of hectares throughout the
province. Total rainfall in Henan over the past 12 months stands at less
than 20 per cent of the annual average.

-- more --

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Second sun flare heading to Earth
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Fri, 9 Jun 2000 12:40:43 -0500

Second sun flare heading to Earth

JOHN SAUNDERS and ROMA LUCIW
http://www.globeandmail.com/gam/Science/20000609/UFLARN.html
The Globe and Mail
Friday, June 9, 2000

Toronto -- A second salvo of sun plasma is due to hit the earth's magnetic
field today, following a blast yesterday that made radios useless in the
high Arctic but caused no immediate disasters.

In Ottawa, the Canadian Geomagnetic Forecasting Centre posted a "major storm
warning" for yesterday and today. Geomagnetic storms, disturbances in the
planet's magnetic field under assault from the sun, can cripple power grids
and communication satellites but more often go unnoticed.

David Boteler, a researcher at the centre, a branch of Natural Resources
Canada, said that the disturbance that began yesterday appears to be only
about half as bad one in 1989 that brought down Quebec's power grid and left
six million people without electricity.

Such havoc is caused when charged particles from the sun distort the
magnetic field and generate power surges in transmission systems or other
equipment.

The second solar salvo, which erupted from the sun's surface on Wednesday,
appears weaker than the first, judging by its estimated speed and the size
of the radiation burst or solar flare that accompanied it, Dr. Boteler said.
Solar particles affect the upper atmosphere, sometimes interrupting radio
signals, he said. "That's the condition we've got up in the Arctic at the
moment."

Some field camps operated by his department are caught in a blackout, he
said. "I mean, they can't radio for an aircraft to say, 'Okay, we've
finished our work. Would you come and get us now?' because they can't get
through. They're just stuck there for the next couple of days."

In the south, many cellphone users suspected the solar event of causing
interference and lost calls.

Cori Simms, a Toronto marketing executive and frequent cellphone user,
noticed "fuzzy periods.

"At times yesterday, my phone would just disconnect. That's unusual on a day
where there's not a thunderstorm. I also went through a lot . . . where the
line went staticky."

But cellphone companies insisted they were unaffected by the storm and
stressed that the calls go through towers, not satellites.

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Deadly Germs From Cold War
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Fri, 9 Jun 2000 12:46:16 -0500

Deadly Germs From Cold War
http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9120-2000Jun6.html
By David Hoffman
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, June 7, 2000; Page A24

OBOLENSK, Russia -- On the third floor of the State Research Center for
Applied Microbiology here, the sign warns: "Particularly hazardous
infections."

Behind the door is a storehouse of some of the most lethal substances ever
created, samples of germs and other pathogens developed for use in Soviet
biological weapons. In an archive of freezers and test tubes, the third
floor includes a repository for genetically engineered versions of anthrax
and plague, as well as the lesser-known diseases tularemia and glanders.

The archive is one of the Cold War's most terrifying legacies. In the
laboratories of Building No. 1, Soviet scientists worked in extreme secrecy
for 20 years trying to build ever more deadly biological weapons, even after
Moscow signed a treaty promising not to develop or stockpile them.

Now, slowly, Russia is opening the door to this and some other dark corners
of the once hidden Soviet bio-weapons complex. Recently, for the first time,
a sample anthrax strain was sent to the United States for analysis, the
beginning of what U.S. officials hope will be a broader exchange.

As more is learned, the West is responding by pressing Moscow to tighten
security to help keep bio-weapons out of the wrong hands. The United States
has agreed to provide nearly $1 million for extra guards, video cameras and
other protection for what had been a surprisingly lightly guarded compound.

Journalists were taken on a limited tour of Building No. 1 late last month.
Here, according to Ken Alibek, a bio-weapons expert who defected to the
United States in 1992, the Soviet Union carried out some of the most
ambitious biological weapons research ever attempted.

As with many Soviet-era scientific facilities, it has a decaying outward
appearance. Buildings are crumbling, weeds sprouting and air locks on the
fourth and fifth floors looked unused. Only the third floor of Building No.
1 is now devoted to the most dangerous substances, but in earlier days, five
of the nine floors were used for research on bio-weapons. From a glassed-in
corridor atop the building it is possible to view the whole sprawling
complex, including a 40-bed special isolation hospital built in case of
accidental contamination.

In the Soviet era, Obolensk had 4,000 workers and was known as Post Box
V-8724, hidden in a remote, wooded area south of Moscow. Its location was
concealed, as were those of many of the most sensitive Soviet nuclear
weapons facilities. It was not on any map. Today, scientists here carry out
civilian biotechnology projects; they are trying to fight drug-resistant
tuberculosis and preparing to manufacture high-grade insulin, which is still
in short supply in Russia.

The institute opened recently for an unprecedented three-day international
conference for about 200 microbiology experts from Russia, the United States
and Europe. The theme of the conference was biological and ecological
safety, and it was held in the same auditorium where Soviet scientists once
discussed how to create the most devastating biological weapons ever
conceived.

"Scientists today are the people who must create the system of resistance to
biological weapons and to biological terrorism," institute director Nikolai
Urakov said in an interview. Tall, with a head of white hair and a
shoulders-back military posture, Urakov knows whereof he speaks. According
to Alibek, Urakov, who holds the rank of general, won a Soviet prize for
development of a "Q fever" weapon. Q fever is a rare disease contracted from
animals that can cause pneumonia and other disorders in humans. Later,
Urakov also oversaw a project, code-named "Bonfire," that involved
genetically engineering new versions of such diseases as plague.

The KGB was especially interested in a new class of weapons that could
damage the human nervous system and alter moods, Alibek recalled in his
memoir, "Biohazard." "Victims would appear to have died of natural causes,"
Alibek wrote. "What intelligence service would not be interested in a
product capable of killing without a trace?"

In 1979, a Soviet biological weapons accident at a top-secret military
laboratory in Yekaterinburg--called Sverdlovsk in the Soviet era--is
believed to have caused the world's most serious known outbreak of human
inhalation anthrax; the official death toll was 66.

The bio-weapons effort is not just history. Many of the pathogen samples
remain in storage, and in recent years there has been growing apprehension
in the West about the possibility they could be stolen and used by
terrorists. The laboratory here had just a single guard at the front door
and another at the gate of the fenced compound in which it is located. It is
not nearly as heavily guarded as Russian nuclear facilities, which typically
have guard patrols, dogs, surveillance cameras and other perimeter controls.
The Cold War made controlling nuclear weapons a priority. Today, they are
limited by treaties, and millions are spent to tighten security on nuclear
materials. Likewise, the United States is helping Russia prepare to destroy
some of its aging chemical weapons stocks. But biological weapons have been
a far more elusive target for disarmament than nuclear weapons. There is a
fine line between research to create offensive biological weapons and
research to defend against them; as a result, work on offensive weapons can
be concealed under the cover of research to develop vaccines.

..more...

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========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Re: a question
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Neil ")
Date: Fri, 9 Jun 2000 21:51:14 +0200

Hi John in chilly NZ

These are possibly the most reliable Scripture relating to whether one need
to go under a covering or not. I do not endorse this teaching. It is not
Scriptural at all. God has called us into liberty, not under the headship of
a man, but under the headship of Christ.

"The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a
witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that
shall be revealed:
Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not
by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;
Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the
flock." (1 Pet 5:1-3)

Neil in sunny South Africa.

----- Original Message -----
From: "John in NZ" <bpr-list@philologos.org>
To: BPR Mailing List <bpr-list@philologos.org>
Sent: Thursday, June 08, 2000 3:36 PM
Subject: [BPR] - a question

> Greetings one and all. I hope there is an all to enter
> into this discussion.
>
> I am involved in a teaching ministry which will remain for
> the purposes of this discussion nameless. I am going around
> churches to see if we can take seminars in their church. It
> is a well known respected evangelical international
> ministry. Today I was asked by someone "What covering are
> you working under?"
>

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Muslims of Alquds proclaim "Alquds Covenant"
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Khazneh")
Date: Fri, 9 Jun 2000 16:35:04 -0400

Thursday 8 June 2000 (updated at 17:00 GMT)

Muslims of Alquds proclaim "Alquds Covenant"

Occupied Jerusalem: Muslim organizations and leaders in Alquds al Sharif
(Jerusalem) have reasserted Muslim commitment to liberate Jerusalem from
Zionist occupation.

Describing that commitment as a paramount religious duty, the Islamic
organizations of Alquds , which included professional unions, political
organizations, Wakf officials and religious scholars, signed a charter
which they labeled as "A'hd al Quds" or "covenant of Jerusalem."

The covenant read as follow: "We promise Almighty God to remain the bearer
of the banner of Jerusalem, and shall bequeath it to our sons and grandsons,
and that safeguarding Alquds will remain part of our faith, and that the
town will remain in our hearts and minds, and that we shall not compromise
on an atom of its soil."

The covenant went on saying " we stress that there will be no peace or
stability without recovering the town to its legitimate owners."

The covenant was signed on yesterday by hundreds of Islamic leaders in
Alquds.

Among the signatories are the Mufti of Palestine, Ikrema Sabri, and PA
official Faisal Huseini.

http://www.palestine-info.net/index_e.htm

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Amazon offers pedophile handbook
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Fri, 9 Jun 2000 19:50:09 -0400

                Amazon offers
                pedophile handbook
                'Our goal is to support
                freedom of expression'

By Jon E. Dougherty
=A9 2000 WorldNetDaily.com

                One of the nation's largest online book retailers
                is offering a title promoting homosexual sex
                with children.

                According to a description by the book's
                publisher, "Understanding Loved Boys and
                Boylovers," available on Amazon.com, attempts
                to debunk the "myth" that it is harmful to youth
                to engage in "intergenerational male/male
                sexual activities" -- or men having sex with
                young boys.

                "The long assumed 'harm' of such activities has
                failed to be supported by research, and the
                sociocultural 'wrongness' based on this 'harm' is
                therefore left without any rational basis," said
                the review.

                Written by David L. Riegel, the book also claims
                that despite "howls of protest" over its
                conclusions -- from "right wing radicals all the
                way up to and including the United States
                House of Representatives" -- earlier "no harm
                done" suppositions have "been judged to be
                true, accurate and objective science" after
                "having been subjected to intensive examination
                at every level."

                Riegel states that he has spent years moderating
                websites "devoted to examining these issues."
                He said, "early on ... it became obvious ... that
                the men -- and a few boys -- who participate in
                these sites are not the stereotypical monsters
                that the media portrays."

                Instead, he said, "they are sincere, concerned,
                loving human beings who simply have -- and
                were probably born with -- a sexual orientation
                that is neither understood nor accepted by most
                others."

                "The condemnation and reprehension these
                boys and men are dealt by society are primarily
                the result of misinformation that has become
                institutionalized over time by those who are in
                positions to deceive and mislead public
                thinking and policy," Riegel added.

                The author cites a controversial study published
                by the American Psychological Association in
                the July/August 1998 edition of the
                Psychological Bulletin called, "A Meta-Analytic
                Examination of Assumed Properties of Child
                Sexual Abuse Using College Samples."

                The report was widely criticized, most
                prominently by nationally syndicated talk host
                and columnist Dr. Laura Schlessinger, who said
                the report "states that sexual relationships
                between adults and willing children might be
                positive to children."

                So offensive were the conclusions in the report
                that a year ago Rep. Matt Salmon, R-Ariz.,
                sponsored House Concurrent Resolution 107,
                condemning and denouncing all suggestions
                promoting boy-men sex contained in it. The
                resolution passed 355-0, with 13 abstentions,
                Schlessinger reported in her column last
                August. House Majority Whip Tom DeLay also
                participated in a press conference denouncing
                both the report's conclusions and the American
                Psychological Association for publishing the
                findings.

                After the uproar over the report, the APA said
                that though it did not support child sexual
                abuse, it could not "censor [its] journals and
                avoid articles that might cause controversy."

                "However, we have to realize that in the age of
                Internet, cable and instantly accessible
                information, our journals no longer speak only
                to scholars," said American Psychological
                Association CEO Raymond D. Fowler, Ph.D. He
                also hinted that the report had been
                "misinterpreted" and that his organization "must
                work harder to explain psychological research
                to policymakers and the public."

                "If our scientific publications, sometime written
                in arcane language difficult for
                non-psychologists to understand, are likely to
                be misinterpreted by the public, we have to find
                ways to explain them or we will pay dearly for
                their confusion," Fowler wrote in a column
                explaining the APA's position on the research
                involved in producing the report.

                Several psychiatric professionals agreed with
                Schlessinger and debunking the report as "junk
                science," including Dr. Paul Fink, head of the
                Leadership Council and past president of the
                American Psychiatric Association.

                For its part, Amazon.com takes the issue of what
                kind of content to offer "very seriously,"
                according to company spokesman John
                Schommer.

                "Our goal is to support freedom of expression
                and to provide customers with the broadest
                selection possible so they can find, discover and
                buy any title they might be seeking," Schommer
                told WorldNetDaily.

                "That selection includes some titles which most
                people, including employees of Amazon.com,
                may find distasteful or otherwise objectionable,"
                he said, quick to point out that the online
                bookseller "does not sell pornography or child
                pornography."

                Schommer said the company "believes it is
                censorship not to sell certain books because we
                believe their message repugnant, and we would
                be rightly criticized if we did so." He added that
                unless prohibited by law, Amazon.com would
                continue to make controversial titles available.

                "It's important to note that we do not endorse
                any opinions expressed by individual authors,
                musical artists or filmmakers," he said.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_dougherty/20000609_xnjdo_
amazon_off.shtml

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Infobeat News items (6/9/00)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Fri, 9 Jun 2000 19:56:54 -0400

*** Court rejects right-to-die claim

DENVER (AP) - The Colorado Court of Appeals has ruled against an
81-year-old man who claims free will granted by God or nature allows
him to choose euthanasia for himself. The court rejected former
District Judge Robert Sanderson's claim that a state law
criminalizing assisted suicide violates his constitutional right to
the free exercise of religion. Sanderson had asked the Prowers County
District Court in 1996 to let him establish a power of attorney that
would allow his wife to authorize his death by euthanasia as long as
two doctors agreed his medical condition was hopeless. He was in good
health, but wanted assisted-suicide as an option if his condition
deteriorated. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2567195289-8a3

*** Sodomy law ruled unconstitutional

HOUSTON (AP) - A Texas appeals court declared the state's sodomy law
unconstitutional Thursday, throwing out the case of two Houston men
who were arrested inside a home in 1998 for having sex with each
other. Texas has had a sodomy law since 1860 but dropped criminal
penalties for partners of the opposite sex in 1974. In a 2-1 ruling,
the 14th Court of Appeals said the law violates the Texas
Constitution's equal-rights protections. "The simple fact is, the
same behavior is criminal for some but not for others, based solely
on the sex of the individuals who engage in the behavior," Justice
John S. Anderson wrote. The law was challenged by John Geddes
Lawrence and Tyron Garner, who were arrested when police entered
Lawrence's apartment and found the men having sex. They were charged
with "deviant homosexual conduct," punishable by a fine of up to
$500. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2567195025-359

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - covering
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("John in NZ")
Date: Fri, 09 Jun 2000 21:28:03 -0500

----- Original Message -----
From: John Brough
To: bpr-list@philologos.org
Sent: Thursday, 8 June 2000 3:13 pm
Subject: a question

Hi all,
I do want to thank those who have sent contributions so far to my
question on covering. I have sent the question to another list I am
on also. Interestingly enough initial reaction, like mine, was
extremely negative to the idea but now, a couple of days later some
good thoughful responses are emerging. I have not had time to digest
what has been said to date and follow it through. I would appreciate
further thoughts on the subject. I admit to being a little
disappointed in that little Biblical material has emerged to lead my
thoughts - but what has been shared has at least given starters. I
will respond in some depth to ideas sent in a couple of days to
attempt to clarify issues raised but until then please keep the ideas
flowing.
John in NZ

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