BPR Mailing List Digest: 06/16/00

Philologos
BPR Mailing List Digest
June 16, 2000

Digest Home | 2000 | June, 2000

To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Re: a question
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("John in NZ")
Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2000 21:23:54 +1200

Reply to Rob,
I think this is the key. As far as I can tell from talking to people the
"covering" doctrine is built out of the OT - passages about priesthood and
kingship. If this is the case then it is not good exegesis to bring it over
into the NT and make a "priest-laity" or "king-subject" type relationship
between leaders and other members of the local church. We are all, as you
say, kings and priests - thus the OT leadership model is nto particularly
relevant to us and shouldn't be applied.

John in NZ

----- Original Message -----
From: "Rob" <bpr-list@philologos.org>
To: BPR Mailing List <bpr-list@philologos.org>
Sent: Sunday, 11 June 2000 8:43 pm
Subject: [BPR] - Re: a question

> I cannot see the need of "a covering" if you are doing the Lords work. All
> of us are called in one way or another to Preach the Gospel. We are all also
> a Royal Preast hood, our only need is Christ.
> Regards
>
> Rob

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Re: a question
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("John in NZ")
Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2000 21:52:13 +1200

Zelzah,
The verse speaks alright but what do you think it means? Maybe some of our
more theological brethren could illuminate us. It is not immediatwely
obvious to me.

John in NZ

----- Original Message -----
From: "Zelzah" <bpr-list@philologos.org>
To: BPR Mailing List <bpr-list@philologos.org>
Sent: Wednesday, 14 June 2000 5:05 am
Subject: [BPR] - Re: a question

> One verse speakes volumes: Isaiah 30:1
>
> "Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not
> of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may
> add sin to sin:"

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - ReligionToday News Items - Friday, June 16, 2000
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2000 07:33:01 -0500

C U R R E N T N E W S S U M M A R Y
by the Editors of ReligionToday

June 16, 2000

Time may be running out for Messianic Jews in Israel, a ministry
says. Recent events, including the imminent expulsion of three
Ethiopians Jews who embraced Christ as the Jewish Messiah, a law
before the Knesset seeking to bar Messianic Jews from Israeli
citizenship, and the government's "land for peace" agreements
with the Palestinians are bad signs, Christ For the Nations
reports. The Dallas-based ministry works among Jews and Arabs in
the country.
...Persecution of those who believe in Christ is increasing.
Orthodox Jews have threatened to burn down a Christian bookstore
in Tel Aviv where Bible studies are held at night, the ministry
said, and have painted swastika symbols and "death to
missionaries" on its doors. The ministry installed surveillance
cameras last month because every morning they found new evidence
that someone tried to break into the store. A mob of Orthodox
Jews surrounded the building in the daytime, shouting curses at
workers inside, the ministry said. A heavy rainstorm dispersed
the mob as the Messianic Jews prayed.

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - TRIPPING THE LIGHT FANTASTIC
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2000 07:54:05 -0500

TRIPPING THE LIGHT FANTASTIC

http://www.beyond2000.com/news/Jun_00/story_666.html

The Colonel looks out across the scrubby plain. A few kilometers away a
gallery of light forest follows the course of the dried-up river that is his
unit's objective. There's not much cover though between their hiding place
and those trees. Any anti-tank forces concealed there would make short work
of his squadron of light armoured vehicles long before they could complete
the dash for cover. But is there anything hiding there?

To check out, the colonel turns invisible and levitates. Rising to an
altitude of about 30 meters, he flies across to the threatening trees.
Looking down at the picture below, he strips away all that unhelpful and
concealing foliage with the flick of a button. Now he sees things in a new
light. There's definitely something that doesn't belong: straight lines.
Dropping lower, the hovering Colonel picks out three enemy tanks hiding
behind multiple camouflage nets. These coverings too he
removes from the equation. A jeep is further forward in a well-concealed
observation post. Well they can't see him, so the officer shrugs and
pinpoints the enemy positions to within a few centimetres. He flutters back
to his original post and dials up an airstrike. Problem solved.

Now you're probably thinking the Colonel has some sort of helicopter,
invisible jet or talent for out-of-body astral travel. You'd be wrong. What
the troop commander does have is an Imaging Laser Radar (ILR), nothing more
than a military version of a civilian system originally developed for the
mining industry. It allows high-speed mapping and imaging of a target,
including the ability to rotate and view from any different angle. Our
'flying' Colonel never even left his seat; his bird's-eye perspective was
all on a computer screen.

I-SpY

The ILR system is being developed for the Australian Army by the Defence
Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO), in conjunction with Maptek, a
private company who first developed the commercial applications of the
equipment. Maptek's product is known as I-SiTE and so far has been used
mostly in mining and geology applications. Both I-SiTE and ILR are
derivations of the more general science of LIDAR (Light Detection and
Ranging).

Mapping an area with I-SiTE can take as little as a few seconds. The
physical equipment is nothing revolutionary. It basically consists of a
horizontal tube mounting a high repetition rate laser, of the sort used
commonly for measuring distances. In this case though, the laser is
steerable, allowing it to scan across a scene.

The secret to I-SiTE is all in Maptek's software. Taking all the data from
the laser, the program is able to convert the readings into x, y and z
co-ordinates. From there it's easy to build up a 3-D image and render it on
a screen. Taking 'exposures' from various angles increases the accuracy of
the picture. Crunching the sheer volume of data produced by the laser has
been the major challenge in the system's development.

In the case of our Colonel, a scan of the treeline with ILR would have
penetrated much further into the forest than the human eye. The returned
reflections would have built up a picture both of the plants and the other
features behind them. Filtering out the wavelength for foliage reflection
would strip away the greenery and allow the commander to see what else is
there. Areas where there is no reflection, such as clearings and hidden
roads, stand out very clearly, as do large and solid objects like vehicles.
Manipulating the rendered images would allow the Colonel to view his target
from any angle or height. He may even pick out a blindspot or unguarded
pathway to set up his own ambush.

This battlefield scenario requires only a relatively crude measurement and
image rendering ability. For Maptek's work in the mining and engineering
sectors, a much higher level of accuracy is called for. When imaging in
these environments, much care is taken to establish precisely where the
I-SiTE scan is being taken from. By combining a number of exposures from
several known and defined points, the resulting model is as detailed as
possible. In the case of the Sydney Opera House picture displayed here, only
four angles were 'shot'. The picture is quite comprehensive, but there are
still some blank areas that require further measurement.

Fixing of the scanning points can be done through traditional surveying
practices or via a professional-grade GPS system.

The I-SiTE equipment has a range of about 350 meters and can be set to scan
at different resolutions. Detailed mapping of a complex surface requires
more time to scan and must be done from a greater number of angles.
Depending on what the image is to be used for it can be colourised in
different ways. Geologists may like to paint different minerals or textures
as different shades. Architects can highlight certain features and dull down
others.

Some of the civilian uses for I-SiTE so far and in the future are:
* Accurately determining the volume of huge ore stockpiles outside a
mine.
* Providing the framework for CAD models of buildings, allowing the
creation of walk-through presentations.
* Rendering real buildings in a digital format helps special effects
artists to prepare computer generated images for later overlay onto film
footage. Currently both King Kong AND the Empire State Building would have
to be laboriously modelled by the artists or else the ape would have to be
endlessly adjusted to fit the footage. Now he'll be drawn according to the
actual dimensions, gathered in a just few minutes.
* Remote surveillance. Setting up the equipment to continuously
monitor a scene allows any sudden changes, such as the coming and going of
vehicles to be recognised and logged by the software. For long-term and
night-time observation, I-SiTE is far superior to a human.
* Approval is currently being processed for a Maptek team to scan and
model the Zeugama ruins in Turkey, soon to be covered by a dam. The ancient
buildings will be preserved in digital format and one day perhaps
re-created. (Beyond 2000 will keep you posted.)

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Brahmins export priests to challenge Christianity
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2000 08:02:26 -0500

Friday, June 16, 2000
INDIA
Brahmins export priests to challenge Christianity
RAHUL BEDI in New Delhi

http://www.scmp.com/News/Asia/Article/FullText_asp_ArticleID-20000616033909675.asp

Brahmin priests will take their religion to expatriate Indian Hindus
worldwide in an effort to counter the influence of Christianity.

Equipped with geometrical-shaped urns, water from the Ganges River -
considered holy by millions of Hindus - and incense, three of 33 Brahmin
priests who graduated recently from a Hindu seminary near New Delhi have
left for the US, Singapore and Mauritius to meet the spiritual requirements
of expatriate Indians. Their missionary work will last at least a decade.

"Well versed in Hindu scriptures, these priests are expected to spread the
virtues of Hinduism and perform rituals for the Indian diaspora," said
Shashi Sham Singh of the Hindu Heritage Parishthan at Modipuram, 60km north
of Delhi.

The parishthan is where Brahmin priests are put through their religious
paces.

Religious organisations aligned with the ruling Hindu nationalist Government
said the priests would also counter the influence of Christianity on
expatriate Hindus. The World Hindu Council recently established a branch in
Durban, South Africa, to defend "the rights of Hindus against conversion".

All entrants to the Modipuram seminary are required to be proficient in
Sanskrit and have a working knowledge of English. During nine months of
training, at the end of which they are awarded a diploma, the trainee
priests study ancient texts and learn to perform complicated Hindu rituals
like marriages, child-naming ceremonies and death rites and to recite long
and complicated Hindu prayers by rote.

"It is not only Hinduism the priests are taught, but also other religions to
enable them to counter Christian arguments," Mr Singh said. Over the years,
Hindu religious organisations and temple trusts like the Temple Society in
North America have "imported" Brahmin priests from India, as has the South
Indian Religious Society in Singapore.

The Hindu Temple Society said the proliferation of temples overseas had
proved to be a godsend for Indian priests eager to move to richer pastures.
Although overseas Hindu religious organisations play a major role in
importing priests, many manage to secure posts through networking and
personal contacts.

A name-giving ceremony in Singapore costs the patron S$31 (HK$140), the
sacred thread ceremony, essential for all traditional Brahmins, costs S$131,
and a marriage S$251. According to Hindu tradition, odd figures ending with
a one, such as 11 or 31, are auspicious.

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Earthquakes
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2000 09:10:54 -0400

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] - "The Way, the Truth, and the Life"
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Flo")
Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2000 08:33:27 -0500

I have a question that needs an answer from a Jewish viewpoint. Can you
help? I read many years ago in the Jerusalem Post (I wish I had saved it)
that Jewish tradition had it that the entrances into the Tabernacle were
named "The Way" "The Truth" and "The Life" Is this right?

Flo from KY

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Question
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Allan")
Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2000 10:27:06 -0700

To John:
I think you have a wrong concept. The verse just mean that
God's church is not coming to God for counsel and that they are heaping
many sins upon themselves.

Allan

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Who's your Daddy?
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2000 15:23:46 -0400

DNA testing

The Sunday Times 11 June 2000

FOCUS

Quick, discreet DNA tests to establish paternity have become a boom
industry. A swab inside the cheek can resolve doubts that have lingered
for years. All too often, however, the results bring heartbreaking news.
Lois Rogers <lois.rogers@sunday-times.co.uk> reports.

Who's your Daddy?

The news that his little blond son Rauli had cystic fibrosis came as a
devastating blow to Morgan Wise, a Texan railway engineer. He was eager to
help when doctors asked him to undergo a genetic test to determine the
origins of the boy's illness.

Wise's results, however, came back negative. Both parents must have the
gene for a child to contract the disease, and tests showed Wise was not a
carrier of cystic fibrosis. To his astonishment, Wise was told this meant
it was highly unlikely he was Rauli's biological father.

Already separated from the mother of his four children, Wise, tempted by
the paternity testing clinic offer of a cut-price DNA test deal, underwent
genetic analysis to establish whether he was the father of Rawli and his
other three children. It was a decision that would change his life.

The results revealed that only his daughter, the eldest child conceived
during his 13-year marriage, was fathered by him. The three boys were not
his sons.

"I can't begin to describe how I felt," said Wise, 38. "It was like
experiencing a sudden death. I could not believe she had deceived me so
completely, and for so long. I just fell apart.

"How a mother can do this to her marriage, her husband, her children, and
live a lie, I don't understand."

Wise, who says he still regards himself as the boys' father, is now locked
in a destructive legal battle with his former wife. He is arguing he will
help support the children, but not through her. Three weeks ago, Texan
courts ruled he should have no access to the children until the
maintenance dispute is settled.

The boys he believed to be his sons are among thousands of innocent
victims of the growth in the DNA testing industry. In both Britain and
America, suspicious men can now take advantage of laboratories offering
quick and easy proof of paternity.

Genetic relationships can be established using a home testing kit
available over the internet. All it requires is a swab sample of cells
from the inside of the cheek of both father and child, which can then be
posted off to a laboratory. The results are delivered within five days, no
questions asked.

More than 250,000 tests a year are now conducted in America, and about
15,000 in Britain. Some of the testing is done to settle legal disputes
about child maintenance between unmarried couples, or to answer questions
on rights to inheritance.

Many of the customers, however, are married men who are suspicious. All
too often, the results bring shocking and unwelcome news: roughly 30% of
men taking the tests discover that they are not the fathers of the
children they regarded as their own. In the wider community, social
scientists say up to 1 in 20 children are not the offspring of the man who
believes himself to be their father.

Caroline Caskey's Houston-based company Identigene, which offers DNA test
kits, processes 250 cases a week, and averages one a month from British
clients who have contacted the firm over the internet. "These secrets
don't keep," said Caskey.

Allan Gelb, who describes himself as an immuno-haematologist, though not a
doctor, runs a bustling genetic testing service from his office in New
York City. "I am doing a great deal of business with the UK," he said. "I
should think we have had 40 to 50 people in the past two years."

DNA tests have made Gelb into something of a television celebrity. Bearded
and bespectacled, he makes regular television appearances on talk shows
giving people their test results. The more devastating the news, the
better the ratings. One show recently featured a married couple who were
told by Gelb, live on air, that their tests revealed they were brother and
sister.

In Britain, on-air DNA test results may not yet be the stuff of Kilroy,
but scientists have been swift to capitalise on the paternity- testing
business. There are seven government-approved laboratories offering the
service. About 70% of the business currently comes through the courts from
the Child Support Agency (CSA) trying to track errant fathers to pay
maintenance for their children.

However, private demand is growing as more people become aware of the
service. People who have lived their lives with a nagging doubt, agonising
over their parentage or their progeny, are opting to take the plunge.

Customers receive full counselling - they are asked how they will react if
the result is not what they had hoped for, and warned they cannot "unknow"
it.

John Burn, professor of clinical genetics at Newcastle University, set up
North Gene to provide private paternity testing at �450 per family.
Profits are ploughed back into the university. "There are plenty of cases
where testing is appropriate," he said. "For example, the mother has gone
off with her lover and the natural father of the child wants it tested to
prove he, and not the maternal grandmother, should have custody.

"It is very hard to say that a young man must pay maintenance for 18 years
when he knows he is not the father of a child, but at the same time it
makes people very uneasy to think that an estranged father could turn up,
take the child out and secretly get it tested to see if he could get out
of responsibility for it."

Burn believes increasing interest in the service is a result of the
decline of the traditional family, and the fragmentation of relationships.

The case of Brian Ellis is one such example. When his wife, Tina, told him
that she had conceived, after the couple had been trying for a baby for
two years, he was delighted. His joy, however, was shortlived.

Midway through the pregnancy, Tina told him the child she was carrying was
not his, but his best friend's. Ellis's reaction was, and continues to be,
one of disbelief. Although Tina left him to live with her new lover, Ellis
demanded a DNA test - though he has so far not offered to pay for it.

"There is no way he is the father anyway," she said. "We had been sleeping
together without contraception from when I was 17 to when I was 21 and I
only got pregnant when I started the other relationship."

The scientific truth is that, since she was sexually active with both,
either man could be the father. Ellis, who has since fathered two children
with his second wife, is still convinced the baby born to Tina during
their marriage is his child. Concrete proof of paternity would be the only
way to end the long- running dispute.

Burn said: "It is a difficult field, but it is not difficult to see why it
needs to be done. People will argue we should never have discovered so
much about genetics, but we cannot go back now, and this technology will
right wrongs that have gone on for a very long time."

The proof often carries heartbreak, however. For 40 years, Bryan Good
carried a tattered picture of a baby girl in his pocket, a portrait of the
daughter his then girlfriend had given up for adoption when Good was 18.
He always longed to be reunited with his daughter, and the much-awaited
phone call finally came. The little girl in the photograph, now a grown
woman called Diane, was also longing to meet him.

The pair had an ecstatic reunion, both believing the father-daughter
relationship they had sought for decades had now been found. Social
workers, however, suggested that they take a DNA test, because it was not
Good's name, but that of another man, that appeared as the father on
Diane's original birth certificate.

The test proved they were not related. Diane, distraught, decided not to
continue to see Good. "The mother had told me I was the father before we
parted," said the bewildered Good. "Losing her was just like a
bereavement."

He is one of many men stunned to discover that a woman they were sure was
faithful was not. DNA tests are offering further evidence of an age-old
fact - that female sexual behaviour is heavily influenced by the fertility
cycle. Studies have shown that women are drawn by primitive urges to seek
the optimum genes for their children - and are therefore more likely to be
unfaithful at the time they are most likely to get pregnant.

Robin Baker, a former Manchester University biologist who pioneered work
on sperm competition, found women were more likely to have sex with their
lovers than their regular companions during their fertile periods. They
also retained more semen from their lovers.

Recent research examining the behaviour of young women in discos also
revealed that those who were ovulating were the most provocatively
dressed. They were subconsciously responding to their hormones.

A Channel 4 documentary to be shown on Tuesday, Who's Your Father, will
explore the case of Tara, who came to Burn's testing centre seeking DNA
proof that her son Patrick was the offspring of her dead boyfriend and
should therefore be entitled to inherit from his estate.

Her conviction about Patrick's paternity was evident. So was her
devastation when DNA samples showed he was the son of another man. The
shell- shocked Tara finally admitted he must be the product of a one-night
stand with a friend during a rocky period in her relationship.

The ethical complications of the widespread use of DNA testing are already
beginning to emerge. Are the matches shown by the samples always to be
taken as gospel? Denis Holmes, 40, a financial adviser from Manchester, is
adamant that the scientific "advances" offered by DNA testing are a force
of destruction rather than enlightenment.

After 20 years of marriage, Holmes began a relationship with a dancer
after he found his wife had been unfaithful. After several months, his
mistress said she was pregnant.

Holmes was astonished. He had had a vasectomy some years earlier. DNA
tests, however, showed there was a 99.99% chance that the child, now 22
months old, was his.

Holmes has now embarked on costly litigation to prove the test is wrong.
Since the DNA laboratory has said one in 67,000 people carry the same gene
pattern, that means 700 other Britons, or 350 other men, could also have
fathered the baby.

Holmes has passed repeated tests to prove his vasectomy has not failed.
Eight sperm tests have proved negative. The dispute is to be the subject
of a high court hearing next month, with the CSA demanding that Holmes pay
child maintenance. In the meantime, the CSA has demanded �10,000 from him
for legal costs, and Holmes has spent �4,000 on medical investigations to
prove his infertility.

"It is a horrible, horrible situation. I don't wish to see the child and,
based on the evidence, I don't believe it to be mine," he said. "It is not
an issue of avoiding responsibility. We have clear conflicting evidence
that suggests the DNA test is wrong."

Holmes is now planning to undergo a further four sperm tests before next
month's hearing. The complexities thrown up by cases like his - which
English courts are still not equipped to deal with - have prompted the
creation of draft guidelines for a paternity testing industry code of
practice, now in their final stages with advisers at the Human Genetics
Commission.

The guidelines, laying down quality and accuracy standards, plus plans for
a new inspectorate to ensure facilities are up to scratch, are expected to
be circulated to the clinics within the next few months. The rules will
also cover the issues of who can ask for tests, to whom the results may be
given, and how information can be stored.

At present, fathers can suffer almost as much cruelty at the hands of the
law as from the women who seek to trick them. They cannot demand DNA
testing without a woman's consent. If a test proves positive, they have
obligations to pay maintenance, but no rights whatsoever to see the child
or have any input into its upbringing.

Neither laws nor codes of practice, however, will end the emotional
traumas resulting from paternity testing. Although Burn argues that the
light shone by DNA onto the genetic secrets of an individual will do more
good than harm, he admits to unease.

All too frequently, the answer to the paternity question is one both
father and child wish had never been asked: "Once the genie is out of the
bottle, you can't put it back."

via: transhumantech@egroups.com

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Jennings Courts Controversy with "In Search of Jesus"
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2000 15:36:27 -0400

Jennings Courts Controversy with "In Search of Jesus"
Documentary examines the life of Christ.
http://www.tvguide.com/magazine/robins/000612.asp

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Florida, Nearby States Face Severe Drought
From: bpr-list@philologos.org
Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2000 16:36:44 -0500

------- Forwarded message follows -------

June 16 2:43 PM ET

Florida, Nearby States Face Severe Drought

ORLANDO, Fla. (Reuters) - Agriculture is suffering, wildfires are
flaring and some houses are sinking into the ground as Florida suffers
through the worst recorded drought in its history.

The state estimates that Florida's farmers and ranchers have racked up
about $200 million in losses so far. Gov. Jeb Bush has asked the
federal government to declare Florida a disaster area.

The drought stretches back to the summer of 1998, and places such as
state capital Tallahassee have experienced some 20 inches less
rainfall so far this year than in a normal year, said Douglas Lecomte,
a senior meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Climate
Prediction Center.

The Florida Department of Agriculture says crops such as cotton,
soybeans, corn, watermelons, hay and some vegetables have suffered
across 90 percent of Florida's counties.

Normally, citrus growers have to irrigate only in the hottest and
driest months, but January, February and March were so unseasonably
hot and dry this year that growers had to spend this year's profit to
make sure their trees survived until next year.

In Osceola County, south of Orlando, one cattle rancher was
investigated for animal abuse because his 600 head of cattle appeared
emaciated. The grass they normally ate had withered away and the
rancher had gone broke buying them feed.

The state stepped in to help with $7,000.

Along the Wekiva River that runs through central Florida, the state
planted 9,000 magnolia, maple and Cyprus trees as part of a wetlands
restoration program. Nearly all have died in the dry heat.

Bill Ramsey, who grows blueberries in north central Florida, said he
fears he could lose most or all of his crop.

"I can't do it all with irrigation," he said. And where he does
irrigate, wild animals tear up the moist earth looking for worms that
are harder to find in nearby forests.

Sinkholes A Threat To Homes

Sinkholes, often caused when the underground water table drops too low
to support the limestone bedrock above it, have started to swallow
cars, hiking trails, even an entire lake -- as well as eating into the
property values of anyone living near a new one.

When a sinkhole ate the Ruess family's home earlier this month, a
Seminole County Sheriff's deputy had to cross a 20-foot hole where the
living room floor had once been to retrieve some family photos from a
bookshelf.

"It's not like a disaster, it's like a horror movie," said Aileen
Ruess.

In Daytona Beach, where two years ago wildfires spawned by the drought
forced much of the city to evacuate, the wild grasses and palmetto
bushes that fueled the fires have grown back and once again are like
kindling.

"If the humidity stays low, things could get pretty extreme," said
Volusia County Fire Chief Jim Tauber.

"There's no strong evidence one way or the other" that Florida will
see normal rainfall this summer, said Gary Woodall, a forecaster for
the National Weather Service.

Wildfires have been rampant and people tune in anxiously to weather
reports to check whether there is a nearby threat from a blaze.

Floridians appear to have stopped casually tossing lit cigarettes from
car windows, with police cracking down on the practice in an attempt
to prevent the ignition of new fires.

Drought Extends Beyond Florida

The drought has not been confined to Florida.

Georgia plans next week to impose a ban on outdoor watering from 4
p.m. to 10 p.m. in 144 counties in a bid to minimize the effects of a
three-year drought.

Authorities already have imposed similar restrictions in 15 counties
in the Atlanta area. The restrictions are the first of their kind in
the state, where streams have run dry and water levels in rivers are
at record lows.

"Many local governments are having difficulty providing water during
the early morning hours since water use is very intensive at that
time," the Georgia Environmental Protection Division said.

It said it expected to expand water restrictions if the weather did
not improve and did not rule out a total ban on residential outdoor
watering.

In Alabama, state officials were considering using the National Guard
to distribute drinking water in towns where wells were in danger of
running dry. Plans also were being made to ask trucking companies to
help haul hay from northern Alabama into southern Alabama, where the
drought is worse.

The drought has heightened concerns that several key crops in the
southeast, including cotton, will be hard hit this year, devastating
thousands of small farmers.

via: hblondel@tampabay.rr.com

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

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========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Toxic gas cloud contaminates 12 people in Russia
From: bpr-list@philologos.org
Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2000 16:36:44 -0500

------- Forwarded message follows -------

June 17 1:45 AM SGT

Toxic gas cloud contaminates 12 people in Russian far east

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia (AFP) - Twelve people were contaminated Friday by
a cloud of highly toxic gas, caused by a leaking ballistic missile, in
the Russian far east, authorities said.

The RSM-50 intercontinental missile was damaged in an accident and
around 100 litres (26 gallons) of fuel leaked out forming a 300 to 500
metreto 1,600 foot) yellow cloud of toxic gas on contact with the air.

The gas attacks the skin and the lungs, a police official was reported
as saying by the Interfax news agency.

Twelve people, including seven civilians, were contaminated after the
accident and rushed to hospital, Russian Pacific fleet officials said.

The accident happened at the port of Chajma where nuclear submarines
are maintained.

Local authorities broadcast warnings to residents in the nearby town
of Nakhodka, home to 300,000 people, not to go outdoors and to close
their windows and doors.

But because of light wind, the toxic cloud did not reach the town.
Officials said it had largely dissipated by the end of the day.

The RSM-50 is a 14-metre (42-foot) -long ballistic missile, with a
range of 6,500 kilometres (4,000 miles), which can be fitted with a
nuclear warhead, a specialist from the AVN military information agency
told AFP.
via: hblondel@tampabay.rr.com

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

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========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Tsunami! At Lake Tahoe?
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2000 17:52:54 -0400

Tsunami! At Lake Tahoe?
Surprised tourists could catch the ultimate wave

By K. Brown

Postcards from Lake Tahoe all flaunt a peaceful, brilliant-blue stretch of
mountain water. But geologists have been snapping a very different picture
of the lake lately. Far beneath Lake Tahoe's gentle surface, they say,
several hidden earthquake faults snake across the lake's flat bottom.
These faults put the lake at a bizarre risk for an inland body of water.

If the researchers are right, Lake Tahoe tourists could one day feel the
ground tremble and, just minutes later, face a tsunami. Roiling waves of
water would crest to 10 meters at the shore and crisscross the lake for
hours.

Tsunamis typically emerge in oceans, usually after a quake drops or lifts
part of the seafloor. Undersea landslides—alone or following a quake—can
also trigger these giant waves. In 1998, for instance, a tsunami
devastated Papua New Guinea, sweeping away more than 2,000 people living
on the country's northern coast (SN: 8/1/98, p. 69). And in the past
decade, tsunamis have lashed the coasts of Japan, Nicaragua, and
Indonesia, as well. But Lake Tahoe?

While it may seem improbable, Lake Tahoe holds just the right blend of
ingredients to brew a tsunami. For one thing, it has plenty of water. As
the world's 10th-largest lake, Lake Tahoe stretches 35 kilometers long, 19
km wide, and, in some spots, 500 m deep. What's more, the lake sits smack
in the middle of earthquake country, nestled in a fault-riddled basin that
straddles California and Nevada. Dozens of minor or moderate quakes erupt
along faults in the region every week, and the Lake Tahoe area is no
exception. All it would take, scientists say, is a strong quake directly
beneath the lake to send the waters spewing, tsunami-style.

To get a better grip on Lake Tahoe's tsunami potential, University of
Nevada, Reno geologists have been modeling different quake scenarios.
According to their calculations, if a magnitude 7 quake struck either of
two major faults under the lake, the bottom could open like a trapdoor,
with a chunk of it suddenly dropping as much as 4 m. Just behind it would
fall a huge, sinking slosh of water—generating a giant wave that would
reach the surface, gather strength, and come barreling to shore as a
tsunami.

And that's just the beginning. The scientists think the tsunami, in turn,
would create so-called seiche waves, mountainous waves that lurch from
shore to shore for hours on end. "Think of the lake like a pan full of
water. When you knock one end way down, the water surges and then sloshes
back and forth for some time," says Gene A. Ichinose, a geophysics
graduate student at Nevada-Reno and lead author of the group's study,
which appeared in the April 15 Geophysical Research Letters. As in a
jostled pan of water, some waves would likely splash past their usual
borders—right into the homes and hotels that dot the Lake Tahoe shoreline.

Full story:
http://www.sciencenews.org/20000610/bob1.asp

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - China plagued by locusts
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2000 18:00:03 -0400

Thursday, 15 June, 2000, 13:06
China plagued by locusts

Locusts apparently thrive during droughts
By Rupert Wingfield-Hayes in Beijing

Huge swarms of locusts have been destroying crops in
northern China - a region which is already suffering from
its worst drought in more than a decade.

Two areas have been struck by the locust plague at once.

In north-central China, at least six provinces have been
hit by massive infestations, and in the far north-western
province of Xinjiang, another huge swarm of insects is
rapidly chewing its way through the summer crop.

In the worst affected areas of Xinjiang, local farmers are
reporting infestation levels of 4,000 locusts per square
metre.

According to one local paper, this is the biggest outbreak
of locusts in a quarter of a century.

Two years of extremely dry weather, which is already
wreaking havoc on northern China's farm land, is also being
blamed for this latest problem.

Cash-strapped

Locusts apparently thrive during droughts.

Meanwhile, neighbouring Kazakhstan is being blamed for the
problem in far west Xinjiang.

The central Asian republic was hit by its own plague of
locusts last year.

Strapped for cash, Kazakhstan was unable to pay for the
aerial spraying needed to destroy the insects.

The Chinese claim that eggs laid there last year have now
hatched, and the insects moved into China.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/asia-pacific/newsid_792000/792251.stm

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - EU plans its own police force
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2000 18:05:43 -0400

June 16 2000

EU plans its own police force

       BY ROLAND WATSON AND MICHAEL EVANS
  HUNDREDS of British policemen would play a key role
  in a new Europe-wide civil disorder squad being planned
  by EU states.

  The proposals, to give the EU its own policing arm, will
  be discussed by Tony Blair with the 14 other EU leaders,
  at next week's summit in Portugal. The plan is that the
  force should run in parallel with the military rapid reaction
  force currently being developed.

  Under the proposals, EU states would contribute police
  officers with specialist skills into a 5,000-strong
  pan-European force. Under the proposed force, special
  multinational units would be sent to uphold the law under
  the auspices of the EU, rather than by a member state
  government.

   Chris Patten challenged Europe's Governments
  yesterday to cede a much stronger role in foreign affairs to
  the European Commission so that the European Union
  could match America's influence. The present system of
  governments agreeing positions among themselves was "a
  recipe for weakness and mediocrity, for a European
  foreign policy of the lowest common denominator", the
  External Affairs Commissioner said. "If [the EU is] to
  grow to maturity it needs the nurture of both its parents -
  the member states and the community institutions.

http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/tim/2000/06/16/timnwsnws01022.html

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