To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Nanogirl News
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 24 Nov 1999 08:37:24 -0500

From: "Moza" <moza7@netzero.net>

*World's smallest transistor. Scientists have produced the world's
smallest transistor. This new design may allow silicon chips to
continue to get smaller. It could also double the processing speeds
of some chips. The 50-nanometer transistor - roughly 2,000 times
smaller than the width of a human hair - is known as a "vertical"
transistor because all of its components are built on top of a silicon
wafer. http://www.bell-labs.com/news/1999/november/15/1.html
There is also a section in slashdot about this, at the bottom:
http://www.slashdot.org/

*Alphabet Originated Centuries Earlier Than Previously Thought.
Sometime during the beginning of the second millennium B.C.,
long before ancient biblical times, a traveler passing through a
desert valley of what is now southern Egypt, stopped at a rock and
inscribed on it his name, his title and probably a short prayer for
safe passage. The discovery of this traveler's ancient calling card,
and another one similar to it, indicates that the first alphabet.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1999/11/991122153642.htm

*Biological Glue Could Help Treat Cancer, Diabetes, Alzheimer=92s.
At a scientific meeting three years ago, Dr. Orest Blaschuk was
told the U.S.Air Force had heard about his research into a
biological glue and wanted to know if it could be used to attach
directly onto the brain a computer chip capable of guiding a fighter
jet.
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/living/DailyNews/brainglue991122.html

*Science Uncovers Apes' Hidden Soul. Scientists have found the
strongest evidence yet that some animals could have "souls". They
have located the cells responsible for self-consciousness in the
human brain =97 and found similar clusters in great apes. The cells,
named "self-awareness neurons", appear to integrate the work of
various parts of the brain =97 and create a sense of individuality.
http://www.foxnews.com/js_index.sml?content=3D/scitech/112399/times_souls.sml

Gina "Nanogirl" Miller
Nanotechnology Industries
http://www.nanoindustries.com
Personal Web
http://www.homestead.com/nanotechind/nothingatall.html
E-mail: nanogirl@halcyon.com
"Nanotechnology: solutions for the future."

The Nanotechnology Industries mailing list.
"Nanotechnology: solutions for the future."

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Weekend News Today items (11/23/99)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 24 Nov 1999 08:48:25 -0500

From: "Moza" <moza7@netzero.net>

French minister says US tries to brainwash world

Weekend News Today
By Kelly Pagatpatan
Source: Reuters

Tue Nov 23,1999 -- French Education Minister Claude Allegre
accused the United States on Tuesday of trying to brainwash the
world by opening American universities around the globe based on
a strategy of "one teaching, one thinking." In an interview with the
daily Le Monde, he also charged that Washington wanted to
privatise education around the world by including this sector among
service industries to be liberalised in World Trade Organisation
negotiations. "It would be a catastrophe if the Americans set up
their universities all around the world, all based on the same model
with the same curriculum," said Allegre, an often outspoken
confident of Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin. "Standardised
teaching would lead to a uniform world of 'one teaching, one
thinking'," he said. "We are preparing a counter- attack, including
in the area of correspondence courses." Several U.S. universities
have branches abroad, teaching in English for Americans abroad
and local students interested in an American-style education. U.S.
Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky has suggested
education be treated as a service industry, comparable to banking
or insurance, in trade liberalisation talks to be launched by the
World Trade Organisation in Seattle next week. Allegre said
European countries, where most schools are state run and few
private universities exist, had opposed this.

Presbyterian court OKs gay candidate, 'unions'

Weekend News Today
By Weekend Staff
Source: Yahoo!

Tue Nov 23,1999 -- Two rulings by a regional governing body of the
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) have upheld the rights of
homosexuals to participate in certain religious activities. One
decision allowed a church in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., to continue
performing same-sex ``holy unions,'' finding that they are not
marriage ceremonies. The other allowed a non-celibate gay man
from a southern New Jersey church to remain a candidate for the
ministry. Conservatives in the 2.6-million member church were
expected to appeal the rulings, announced Monday by a governing
synod of the church. The only higher court is part of the church's
General Assembly. Both rulings stem from trials held in Newark
this month.

AIDS deaths this year highest since epidemic began

Weekend News Today
By Weekend Staff
Source: Yahoo!

Tue Nov 23,1999 -- More than 2.6 million people died from AIDS
this year -- the highest number since the epidemic began -- and the
death toll is set to rise in the new millennium, AIDS experts warned
on Tuesday. UNAIDS, the UN agency charged with combating the
spread of the deadly HIV virus, reported 5.6 million new infections
this year, bringing the global total to 33.6 million. ``The epidemic is
far from over. The crisis is actually growing,'' said Dr Peter Piot, the
agency's executive director. ``Since the beginning of the AIDS
epidemic in 1981 roughly 50 million people have become infected in
the world,'' he told a news conference to launch the agency's
annual update of the disease. (Reuters)

Cornerstone for Nazareth mosque unveiled

Weekend News Today
By Weekend Staff
Source: Yahoo!

Tue Nov 23,1999 -- Muslim leaders unveiled the cornerstone of a
controversial mosque in Nazareth, Reuters reported. An Islamic
Movement leader in Nazareth, Suleiman Abu Ahmed, watched as a
green and yellow velvet carpet embroidered with a verse from the
Koran that Muslims believe has powers of protection was removed
from the square stone. The mosque, planned to be at least four
stories tall, is due to rise a short way from the Basilica of the
Annunciation. Some minor churches in Nazareth reopened on
Tuesday before the end of the closure, but frustrated pilgrims
remained shut out of the main Holy Land shrines in Bethlehem,
Nazareth and Jerusalem celebrating the birth, life and death of
Jesus.

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Homosexual Tolerance Booklet
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 24 Nov 1999 13:40:36 -0500

From: "Moza" <moza7@netzero.net>

Homosexual Tolerance Booklet
Sent To Nation's Schools

WASHINGTON, D.C. (CNS) -- A coalition of medical, mental
health, educational and religious groups today is sending the
nation's 14,700 public school districts a 12-page booklet outlining
"just the facts" about homosexuality.

The Just the Facts Coalition - including the American Academy of
Pediatrics, the American Psychological Association, and the
National Education Association -- said the booklet "provides
information that will help school administrators and educators to
create safe and healthy environments in which all students can
achieve to the best of their ability."

The New York Times reports that among other things, the book
says there is "no support" for the idea that homosexuality is
abnormal or mentally unhealthy. It also says "therapy directed
specifically at changing sexual orientation ... can provoke guilt and
anxiety while having little or no potential for achieving changes in
orientation."

Conservative groups say the booklet isn't factual - it's propaganda.

Janet Parshall, chief spokeswoman for the Family Research
Council (FRC) told the newspaper, "If they're going to talk about the
facts, here's a fact: All the major religions of the world consider
homosexuality wrong."

But homosexual advocacy groups applaud the effort. Kevin
Jennings, executive director of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight
Education Network called the booklet's mailing a "history changing
moment." Jennings said, "The entire mainstream education and
mental health establishment has said that it isn't lesbian, gay and
bisexual students who need to change, it is the conditions in our
schools that need to change."

The booklet is entitled "Just the Facts About Sexual Orientation
and Youth." It is divided into chapters, including sections on how
sexual orientation develops; reparative therapy, transformational
ministries and other efforts to try to help homosexuals change their
sexual orientation, and laws protecting gay men and lesbians from
discrimination.

Bruce Hunter, director of public affairs for the American Association
of School Administrators said his organization agreed with the
booklet's message and believes the booklet is likely to be used by
school administrators based on community values.

Hunter also said, "There are many communities in this country that
are just too conservative for that and I trust superintendents know
their communities. On the other hand, when push comes to shove,
occasionally you have to stand up and we would hope they would
stand up for tolerance."

Other coalition members endorsing the booklet are the American
Federation of Teachers (AFT), the National Association of Social
Workers, the National Association of School Psychologists and
the Interfaith Alliance Foundation.

http://www.mcjonline.com/news/news3657.htm

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Arutz-7 News items (11/24/99)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 24 Nov 1999 13:50:18 -0500

From: "Moza" <moza7@netzero.net>

LEVY: "LET THE WORLD KNOW: NO SETTLEMENTS WILL BE
DISMANTLED" The Foreign Ministry is mounting an information
offensive. Director-General Eitan Ben-Tzur has instructed
ambassadors around the world to initiate meetings with government
ministers and officials in their respective countries, and to present
Israel's position vis-a-vis the Palestinians. Foreign Minister David
Levy explained yesterday, "The world community must be made
aware of the Israeli Government's red lines - which include the
stipulation that existing settlements will not be dismantled. We
must ensure that international public opinion understands this, so
that they will not later on point an accusing finger at Israel for not
having met Palestinian expectations... Compromise means that
both sides must compromise."

Levy made the remarks while meeting with the Yesha Council, in
the first meeting between the two in several years. He told the
Yesha leaders that he sees great importance in conducting an
ongoing dialogue with the residents of Judea and Samaria, and in
increasing the sense of trust between them and the government.

EXTRA-VIOLENT ISRAELI-ARAB DEMONSTRATION Three
policemen suffered broken bones, and four Israeli-Arabs were
injured, in a large and violent demonstration outside the Prime
Minister's Office today. Led by Arab Knesset Members and
municipal leaders, the Arabs protested the economic situation in
their localities. MK Ahmed Tibi claimed that the police beat him.
Police say that they had to employ great force in what they called
"one of the most violent demonstrations in Jerusalem in a long
while," and said that some of the protestors attempted to burst
through the gates around the Prime Minister's Office.

ISRAEL REJECTS VATICAN ACCUSATIONS The government
announced today that it "completely rejects the accusations" made
by the Vatican on the dispute in Nazareth. Israel had brought
about a compromise wherein the Muslims of the city would be
allowed to build a smaller-than-planned mosque next to a historic
Christian church. The Vatican said that Israel is "aggravating
divisions between Christians and Muslims." The Israeli government
announcement stated, "We regret that such a statement recalls
the time-honored routine of accusing the wrong party." The
government emphasized its "attentiveness to the sensitivities of its
citizens and the need to uphold freedom of religion for all," and
noted that even Islamic bodies had attempted - unsuccessfully - to
push off the construction of the mosque.

Arutz Sheva News Service
  <http://www.arutzsheva.org>
Wednesday, November 24, 1999 / Kislev 15, 5760

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