BPR Mailing List Digest: 04/05/00

Philologos
BPR Mailing List Digest
April 5, 2000

Digest Home | 2000 | April, 2000

To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Research Tool
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Wed, 05 Apr 2000 07:44:40 -0500

FYI-Great site for online reference-WORLDWIDE...

THE WORLD FACTBOOK

http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - CA county tries shock ads
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Wed, 5 Apr 2000 08:58:16 -0400

April 3, 2000

California county tries shock ads

By Thomas D. Elias SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES

OAKLAND, Calif. — You can't get much more explicit than
the anti-AIDS advertising campaign Alameda County officials
are mounting here on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay.

One black man lies atop another, both naked, two empty
glasses and a liquor bottle beside them. An unused condom
lies on the floor nearby. That's the ad campaign that now
adorns small billboards, postcards, business-size plastic
cards, condom packages and matchbooks.

"Been there. Done that. Get HIV tested. It could save your
life," says the slogan on each of the advertising items.

The signs are being posted in areas most likely to be
frequented by gay black men. The smaller items are given
away in nightclubs, adult video stores, bathhouses, bars
and other known gay hangouts.

The shock ads are the county health department's response
to a state of emergency declared in 1998, when AIDS
officially become the number one killer of African
Americans ages 25 to 44 in Alameda County, bumping homicide
out of that spot for the first time since the early 1960s.

The campaign is aimed primary at blacks because they are
five times more likely to contract the deadly HIV virus
than whites or blacks. Blacks make up just 18 percent of
the county population, but account for 42 percent of its
5,400 active AIDS cases.

The ads bother at least one Alameda county supervisor, who
fears that parents might have to explain the image if their
children see it. "I'm not convinced it won't get out in the
general public," says Scott Haggerty.

But he was outvoted when the county board approved the
campaign, and there have been no other vocal complaints
since the material began to appear in early March.

The ads are funded by a $300,000 grant from the state
Department of Health, the same agency that pioneered
graphic anti-smoking ads showing both diseased lungs and
used cowboys with drooping cigarettes and downhearted
expressions to suggest tobacco causes male impotence.

The county also has produced three other images for the
anti-AIDS signs and handout items, all of them graphic but
not as sexually explicit as the one that worries Mr.
Haggerty.

Other California counties also received grants for anti-
AIDS campaigns and are producing their own shock ads, but
none so far are as sexual as the one created for use in
Oakland and other parts of Alameda County.

One ad now in use in San Mateo County, south of San
Francisco, depicts a woman with a condom in her
outstretched hand saying, "If you don't have one, you don't
get none. Use a condom every time."

"We know not everybody will be pleased with these ads,"
says John Conley, that county's public health director.
"The problem is severe enough, though, that it's necessary
to get the message out in as dramatic a way as we can."

Added Arnold Perkins, director of Alameda County's health
department and the man who directed the explicit campaign,
"This clearly shows the behavior that our most at-risk
population is engaged in. We have to do something that gets
their attention, and our focus groups tell us it has to be
this hard-hitting, or they view like nothing more than a
Cheerios ad."

http://208.246.212.80/national/default-20004322380.htm

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

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

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Bare-All Candidate Livens Up Dull Elections
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Wed, 5 Apr 2000 09:11:07 -0400

Bare-All Candidate Livens Up Dull Elections

Updated 11:31 AM ET April 4, 2000

By Dina Kyriakidou

  ATHENS (Reuters) - In Greece's singularly gray election
  campaign, candidate Dimosthenes Vergis is a flash of shocking
  pink.

  Whether making speeches dressed in a toga or staring down
  from posters wearing nothing at all, Vergis is attracting more
  attention before the April 9 election than some candidates in
  expensive suits spending a fortune on television ads. "I will be the
  surprise of this election," the president of the Ecological Union of
  Greece told Reuters in an interview. "I'm successful because of
  my honesty and spontaneity."

His appeal during a campaign that has so far left most of
Greece's eight million voters yawning is unmistakable.

  Crowds stop by his campaign kiosk in central Athens and taxi
  drivers zooming by shout greetings at Vergis, a slim 59-year-old
  who has seen his following increase steadily since he entered
  politics in 1986.

"When I first ran for office I got 200 votes. In the
Euro-parliament election last year I got 36,000," he said.

  A self-described journalist, he has a simple political message and
  a single purpose if he is elected to Greece's 300-seat parliament
  -- to fight against real Christmas trees.

  "I'd like to ask Mrs. President of the United States, Hillary, to
  show more sensitivity and not to decorate 22 trees at the White
  House every year," Vergis said.

  He admits to using unusual methods to drive his message across,
  such as spelling his party's name on the bare buttocks of
  nightclub dancers or having topless models hand out campaign
  pamphlets on a central Athens avenue.

He appeared proud that such eccentric feats got him in trouble
with the inter-party election committee.

"I'll wear my toga to the hearing," he said.

Other candidates enlist their wives and children to portray an
image of wholesome family morality during the campaign.

  Not Vergis. He boasts of his frolickings on the nudist beaches of
  the island of Mykonos and publishes the pictures to prove it in his
  party's magazine, more an homage to his sexual prowess than a
  political manifesto.

"I believe I have children all over the world. I've recognized 19
but I think there must be about 35," he said.

  He champions few causes besides Christmas trees but he said he
  could not help taking a political stance when Greece and Turkey
  came close to war over a deserted Aegean islet in 1996.

  Posters all over Athens showed him standing on what was
  supposed to be the island, naked and in a state of evident
  arousal, inviting Turkey's female prime minister Tansu Ciller:
  "Come and get it."

http://news.excite.com/news/r/000404/11/odd-election

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

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Brit ads
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Wed, 5 Apr 2000 09:12:59 -0400

Dying of Embarrassment From Bowel Disease

Updated 11:31 AM ET April 4, 2000

  LONDON (Reuters) - Britons are being exposed to lots of
  naked bottoms and encouraged to talk dirty to overcome their
  natural reticence about bowel cancer.

  A leading cancer research charity is hoping that by plastering its
  charity shops with photos of unclothed posteriors Britons will
  face the bare facts and confront bowel cancer.

The posters appear with the words -- "It's yours you should be
looking at."

  "We want to encourage people to be rude by discussing their
  bottoms, problems they have with their poo and how often they
  go to the loo," Dr Lesley Walker, of the Cancer Research
  Campaign, said in a statement.

Bowel cancer is the second deadliest form of the disease in
Britain and kills about 48 people every day.

  Experts believe the high fatality rate is due, at least in part, to
  Britons' embarrassment and reluctance to discuss such intimate
  medical problems.

http://news.excite.com/news/r/000404/11/odd-bottoms

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

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

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Church Blasts Oscar Winners
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Wed, 5 Apr 2000 09:14:29 -0400

Church Blasts Oscar Winners

Updated 11:29 AM ET April 4, 2000

  MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The U.S. Academy of Motion
  Pictures Arts and Sciences is under fire from the Catholic Church
  in Mexico, which claims last month's Oscars promoted
  homosexuality, promiscuity and abortion.

  The Mexican Catholic weekly From the Faith slammed
  "American Beauty," "Boys Don't Cry" and "The Cider House
  Rules," in its latest edition published Sunday.

"This year's Oscars were a propaganda window for abortion,
sexual promiscuity and homosexuality," it said.

  "American Beauty," an edgy tragicomedy about a dysfunctional
  family that addresses repressed homosexuality and an adult man's
  fantasies of sex with a 16-year-old girl, won five Oscars including
  best film, best director and best actor.

  The paper complained, "promiscuity and adultery are not
  condemned and homosexuality is shown in a positive light,"
  adding "American Beauty" made same-sex relationships look
  "almost better than a typical marriage between a man and
  woman".

  The Church also attacked Oscar winners "The Cider House
  Rules" for allegedly promoting abortion, and "Boys Don't Cry"
  for a negative portrayal of homophobics.

  British actor Michael Caine was voted best supporting actor for
  his role in "The Cider House Rules" of a New England doctor
  who runs an orphanage and performs abortions.

"It wants to 'teach' that abortion is better than adoption," said the
paper.

  Newcomer Hilary Swank won best actress for her portrayal of a
  woman who wants to be a man in "Boys Don't Cry", which the
  Church newsletter dubbed "morally gruesome".

  Last year, the Mexican Catholic Church criticized the fantasy
  adventure "Star Wars: Episode 1--The Phantom Menace,"
  saying it parodied the Holy Scriptures and promoted a "New
  Age Culture."

http://news.excite.com/news/r/000404/11/odd-oscar

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

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Pope "Most Important Socialist in the World" Says Gorbachev
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Wed, 05 Apr 2000 13:36:46 -0500

Pope "Most Important Socialist in the World" Says Gorbachev

http://www.russiatoday.com/news.php3?id=148203

ROME, Apr 4, 2000 -- (Agence France Presse) Former Soviet
president Mikhail Gorbachev on Monday described Pope John
Paul II as "the most important socialist in the world," for
making the plight of the poor and solidarity key themes of
his papacy.

"Globalization can also have destructive effects but we
must pursue, as the pope says, its positive aspects," the
former Soviet leader said in a speech to students of Rome's
Sapienza university.

"Wherever John Paul II goes on his trips, he will always
speak of the poor and of solidarity. He is the most
important socialist in the world." If globalization is to
be fair, the gap between North and South must not be
deepened, and political and economic freedom and social
justice must be granted, he added. These were also
socialist ideals.

Gorbachev said he was convinced that the outcome of
Russia's presidential elections would allow Vladimir Putin
to break with the past.

"I have told him this personally," he said. "Now it is up
to him to radically change things without losing time."

He called on Putin to put an end to the excessive
capitalism that was rampant under the outgoing president,
Boris Yeltsin.

He should usher in a new policy based on "faithfulness to
freedom, the market economy and Europe," he said.

Gorbachev arrived in Rome on Friday and held talks with
Italian Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema on Saturday.

Although he met the pope when he was Soviet leader, no
meeting is scheduled during his current visit. ((c) 2000
Agence France Presse)

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

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - China Blasts Proposed Dalai Lama Visit To Taiwan
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Wed, 05 Apr 2000 13:38:33 -0500

China Blasts Proposed Dalai Lama Visit To Taiwan

BEIJING, Apr 5, 2000 -- (Reuters <http://www.reuters.com>)
China criticized on Tuesday reported plans by the Dalai
Lama to visit Taiwan, saying Tibet's exiled spiritual
leader would use the visit to promote separatism.

"The Dalai Lama has long been engaged in activities here
and there for the purpose of splitting the motherland,"
said Foreign Ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi.

"The political purpose of his visit to Taiwan is quite
obvious," he told a news conference.

Sun was responding to a report on Monday in Taiwan's
Liberty Times saying the Dalai Lama was considering making
a second visit to Taiwan, which China says is a renegade
province that must be reunified with the mainland.

The newspaper quoted Sonam Topgyal, the head minister of
Tibet's government-in-exile, as saying the plan included
the Dalai Lama attending Taiwan-Tibetan religious activities.

This would give the Dalai Lama an opportunity to meet
newly elected Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian and possibly
attend the inauguration of Chen on May 20, regardless of
how strong the pressure from China might be.

The Dalai Lama, regarded by Tibetan Buddhists as a god-
king, visited Taiwan in March 1997, his first trip to
Chinese territory since fleeing his Himalayan homeland with
thousands of followers in 1959 after an anti-Chinese
uprising failed.

China assailed the Dalai Lama's 1997 visit to Taiwan,
saying it was aimed at severing both Tibet and Nationalist-
ruled Taiwan from China.

"We are opposed to any kind of political activities by any
person to split the motherland and undermine national
unity," Sun said....MORE

http://www.insidechina.com/news.php3?id=148548

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Bad government to blame for poverty in much of the world...
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Wed, 05 Apr 2000 13:42:18 -0500

Bad government to blame for poverty in much of the world,
U.N. study says

04/05/2000

New York Times News Service

http://dallasnews.com/world/59941_UN05.html

UNITED NATIONS - After years of treading carefully around
the issue of why so many nations stay poor or get poorer,
the United Nations in a report Tuesday put a lot of the
blame on bad government, a message that many leaders
seeking more aid and debt relief do not want to hear.

The report from the U.N. Development Program, the world's
largest aid agency, is a call to rethink traditional ideas
about battling poverty in the developing world. It reflects
the debates within many nations, including the United
States, about why poverty persists even in regions of
substantial economic growth and political freedom.

The report elevates "good governance" - the newest catch
phrase in development theory - to the top priority in
fighting poverty. The U.N. Development Program and its new
administrator, Mark Malloch Brown, support a range of
governance projects. Without good governance, reliance on
trickle-down economic development and a host of other
strategies will not work, the report concludes.

Mr. Malloch Brown, who came to the United Nations last
year from the World Bank, has drawn hostility from
developing nations, which accuse him of interfering in the
internal affairs of governments. That criticism has also
been leveled at U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan for
suggesting that nations with human-rights abuses can no
longer hide behind their borders, claiming national
sovereignty.

Embracing democracy is often not enough, the report states.

"Having regular elections - free and fair - contributes to
accountability, especially if they are also held at the
local level," the report says. "But such democratic forms
are no vaccination against poverty."

Big, expensive surveys of poverty are not much good
either, the report says. It recommends frequent and rapid
studies to serve as barometers of the effectiveness of
programs and policies.

Surveying 140 of the United Nations' 188 members, the
report found that 77 percent of nations had estimated their
incidence of poverty - including extreme poverty, measured
by the inability to buy enough food for daily needs. But
only 40 percent had incorporated anti-poverty measures into
their national planning, and only 29 percent had free-
standing, dedicated anti-poverty projects.

Nations with the most active and focused measures against
poverty were in the Caribbean, Latin America and Africa.
Asia and the Pacific regions ranked behind sub-Saharan
Africa.

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

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