To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Gene Sequence Finished
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Sat, 8 Apr 2000 10:16:06 -0400

Gene Sequence Finished

05:37AM Fri Apr 07 2000 NZST
Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent

WASHINGTON, April 6 (Reuters) - Celera Genomics said on Thursday it had
finished the first step of sequencing the genes of one person, making a
human genetic map that could eventually transform medicine and biology.

The U.S. company aims to be the first to have a complete sequence of the
human genome, which is the collection of all the genes and other genetic
material that are the basic blueprint of life.

Scientists will use this map to learn more about genes involved in
disease, how medicines work, and the workings of basic human biology.

"This is the key milestone," Craig Venter, chairman and chief scientific
officer of Celera, said in an interview.

The Rockville, Maryland-based company's shares rose US$28 on the news to
$141.

Celera plans to use the genes of five different people, who will remain
anonymous, to make up a final human genome sequence. It will copy this
sequence several times over to make sure it is correct.

It started working on the human genome in September, using a method
called whole genome shotgun sequencing. This is a different, quicker
method from that used by a public alliance of researchers, called the
Human Genome Project, which is also working to sequence the human
genome.

"Now that we have completed the sequencing of one human being's genome
we will turn our computational power to the task of ordering the human
genome," Venter said.

"For the next several weeks we'll be working on assembly," he added.
"This is expected to allow researchers worldwide and our subscribers to
utilize our data to make important medical advances."

Celera has been accused of failing to keep its promise to make the human
genome information widely available. But Venter told a hearing of the
U.S. House Energy and Environment subcommittee of the Committee on
Science on Thursday he would keep that promise.

"We will be publishing the assembled, accurate, annotated sequence," he
told the committee.

The sequence is only a very early first step to understanding the human
genome. It does not tell scientists what the genes do -- it just gives
the order of the nucleotides, which are the molecules that make up the
twisted double helix of DNA.

Celera has taken the genes and broken them apart into two different
lengths. It uses standard genetic technology to read out the nucleotides
-- known by the initials A, C, T and G. These four nucleotides repeat
over and over again in varying patterns, and these patterns make up the
genetic code.

What Celera has now is what has been described as a big pile of jigsaw
puzzle pieces. It will now use its powerful computers to read the A, C,
T and G code and put together the pieces.

Mark Adams, vice president for genome programs at Celera, said the five
people were chosen for their diversity. "They are not five white guys,"
he said in a recent interview.

The Human Genome Project, in contrast, is using a "mosaic" of about 10
different donors. Most of the sequence will come from one person's
genes. He, too, will remain anonymous.

Scientists then hope to compare various people's different genes to one
another to find the tiny changes in the code that make one person
different from another.

"We stand to gain enormous benefits, not the least of which is the way
medicine will be practiced in the new millennium," Neal Lane, scientific
adviser to President Bill Clinton, told the House hearing.

© Copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.

http://www.xtra.co.nz/homepage/news/main/0,1081,News%3AWorld+News%
3A171819,00.html

via: isml@onelist.com

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - 'Digital Storm' Brews at FBI
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Sat, 8 Apr 2000 10:16:06 -0400

'Digital Storm' Brews at FBI

Information Technology Expansion Raises Privacy Concerns
By Robert O'Harrow Jr.
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 6, 2000; Page A01

In response to growing concerns about terrorism, hackers and other high- tech criminals, the Federal Bureau of Investigation is planning a series of sophisticated computer systems that would sharply increase agents' ability to gather and analyze information.

The FBI is seeking more than $75 million in budget appropriations to continue a massive information technology expansion, which includes a system dubbed "Digital Storm" that eases the court-sanctioned collection and electronic sifting of traffic on telephones and cellular phones.

Another proposed system would create "the foundation for an up-to-date,
flexible digital collection infrastructure" for wiretaps under the Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Act. A third initiative would develop an
"enterprise database" that would enable agents to analyze huge amounts of
data and share them via a secure World Wide Web-style network. The bureau
has also formed a privacy council to review the use of data and protect
against unwarranted intrusions into innocent Americans' lives.

FBI officials said the bureau's information technology systems are aging and
need to be updated to keep pace with criminal activities, both on the Internet
and offline.

"Our crimes that we're investigating today have a much more national and global scale," said Deputy Assistant Director Edward Allen. "And it's so much faster-paced. It becomes much more critical that we communicate more comprehensively."

The proposals follow a series of bureau initiatives in recent years to gain more
authority to conduct wiretaps, crack encrypted documents and subpoena
computer-related information. FBI officials believe that the new data
surveillance capability is crucial to the bureau's strategic goal of deterring
major criminal acts through surveillance and intelligence-gathering.

"The [information technology] demanded of this plan presently does not exist
within the FBI, but is at the core of activities to be implemented," the budget
documents state.

But civil liberties activists, legislators and legal specialists are alarmed
that the bureau's proposals could erode constitutional protections that limit
government searches, with almost no discussion to date about the implications on Capitol Hill.

The initiatives apparently would not require an expansion of FBI powers
under existing law. But critics said the linking of scattered sources of
information would lead to a huge increase in data collection and analysis.

In its budget documents, for example, the FBI estimates that technological advances would so improve the ability to conduct wiretaps that the number of approved taps would grow by 300 percent over the next decade. Allen played down that figure, saying it was the result of a "poor analysis" and probably would be much lower.

The agency would also continue expanding its use of commercial databases
containing credit information, real estate records, vehicle registrations
and a plethora of other personal details.

The budget says "the explosion and availability of open source information, and the number of information bases and data sources that can and should be searched becomes formidable."

"They're not merely talking about making more efficient use of information
they already have," said James Dempsey, senior staff counsel at the Center
for Democracy and Technology, an advocacy group in the District. "They're
talking about casting a wider net and sweeping in vastly more information."

Others, such as Stewart Baker, former general counsel for the National
Security Agency, say the FBI already has tremendous power and little
oversight.

"They're acting within the law, but it's fair to be nervous about that,"
said Baker, a partner at the law firm Steptoe & Johnson and a member of a
privacy advisory board of the Federal Trade Commission. "An awful lot of
information can be gathered with only a modest amount of justification."

Rep. Robert L. Barr Jr. (R-Ga.) said the FBI has focused so tightly on
preventing terrorist activity that it has virtually ignored the implications of
its plans, at least publicly. "They're saying, 'We need to do whatever it
takes,' " Barr said.

Barr will raise his concerns at a hearing today of the Constitution subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee. The subcommittee will explore the adequacy of privacy protections under current laws.

"They reason we're focusing on this now . . . because of the government's
ability to gather, store and manipulate massive amounts of data," Barr said.

The FBI's Allen acknowledged that the bureau's ability to manage that data
will soar with the new technology. But he said bureau employees will have
only restricted access to the databases, and that there already are legal
restraints on wiretaps and other surveillance. Agents seeking a wiretap, for
instance, will still have to receive court approval and then make regular
reports to the judge about the progress of the case.

Allen also said that the FBI will include software that tracks who accesses
files in order to create an audit trail.

The bureau is seeking $15 million for Digital Storm, a digital surveillance system that helps agents monitor telephone calls and analyze computerized recordings under federal Title III wiretap authority. Other law enforcement agencies use similar systems. A similar program for monitoring under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) would cost $10 million next year.

Information from Digital Storm and the FISA system would be fed into new in- house databases known as Casa De Web. It would enable agents and other authorities to use Web browsers to instantly upload the results of surveillance or other evidence. It also would archive "audio, data, and reports produced on these collection systems," the budget states.

"It facilitates the sharing of electronic surveillance evidentiary data . . .
and intelligence . . . between FBI field offices," the budget had said in the
$10 million request for Casa De Web.

The bureau also is asking Congress for $41 million for an Information
Sharing Initiative. That program, begun last year, calls for the creation of a
giant "enterprise database" and an array of other technological improvements
that would give the bureau "a robust intelligence capability."

Carolyn Morris, head of the bureau's information resources division, noted
that the "enterprise database"--essentially a data warehouse--would contain the
same information the bureau already collects. "A lot of people think it's going
to be something entirely new," she said. "It isn't."

But the database would give analysts the unprecedented ability to conduct
"data mining" on vast mountains of digital records for patterns or clues now
buried in paper files or scattered in unlinked FBI computers.

"You've got to have an electronic repository for everything you collect . . .
which means you can mine it, look for links," Morris said.

At the same time, Morris said, the bureau is sensitive to Americans' privacy
concerns. Several months ago, the bureau created a privacy council led by
Patrick Kelley, deputy general counsel and the senior privacy officer. Among
other things, the council will develop privacy rules for databases with 10,000
or more records.

"Our goal is to ensure that there are no unwarranted invasions of personal
privacy and to balance the interests" of investigators and individual
citizens.

In a speech to a Senate Appropriations subcommittee in February, FBI
Director Louis J. Freeh warned of a coming wave of Internet crime and
Web-based terrorism.

"I am confident that once the scope of the problem is clear, we can work
together to develop the capabilities to meet the computer crime problem, in all
its facets, head on," Freeh said to the subcommittee for the departments of
Commerce, Justice, State and the judiciary. "Our economy and public safety
depend on it."

Dempsey, of the Center for Democracy and Technology, said federal agents
need to be as technologically savvy as criminals and terrorists. But he said
limits are needed to protect innocent people.

"As we rush forward into this digital storm, we need to consider the rules
by which the government uses these techniques to collect information about
Americans," he said.

© Copyright 2000 The Washington Post Company

The Washington Post,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPcap/2000-04/06/094r-040600- idx.html

via: cybwerwar@onelist.com

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Marines landing--in North Carolina
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Sat, 8 Apr 2000 10:26:44 -0400

Marines landing -- in North Carolina
To conduct random checkpoint
searches, patrol neighborhoods

By David M. Bresnahan
© 2000 WorldNetDaily.com

Next Monday through Friday in Swansboro, N.C., the U.S. Marines will
replace police officers in conducting random checkpoint searches and
patrolling residential neighborhoods.

The Marines meet with town officials to plan military police exercise.
Col. Kenneth J. Glueck Jr., 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit Commander,
far right, and Lt. Col. Lawrence D. Nicholson, far left, Battalion
Landing Team's commanding officer, talk to local officials, left to
right, Swansboro Mayor Paul W. Edgerton, Town Manager Bill Price, and
Police Chief Harry Pugliese. "Camp Lejeune has done so much to help our
local law enforcement," said Police Chief Harry Pugliese, referring to
the unorthodox cross training. "This is our chance to give back."

Since Swansboro Police officers have been to Camp Lejeune for many
specialized training exercises, at no cost to the police department,
Pugliese said he is more than happy to reciprocate to help the Marines.

"If I sent my guys to school for this type of stuff, we'd deplete our
budget," said Pugliese.

In the past few years, Swansboro police have engaged in several
live-fire training exercises, and recently took part in a hostage-rescue
scenario. All previous training took place at Camp Lejeune.

This time the Marines will come to Swansboro so they can gain some
real-world experience, rather than in the artificial environment of the
military base. Marines with the 26th Expeditionary Unit Battalion
Landing Team will take over police operations for a week, according to a
release from Cpl. Derek A. Shoemake.

It will be a "very unique training opportunity," said Maj. James
Christmas. The Marines are expected to train all week as domestic
military police. Their assignments will include checkpoints and patrols.
Christmas said it was a unique form of training because it was in the
real world environment.

"This is dynamic stuff," he said. "We'll be working in an environment
with everyday people. You don't get things like pets and kids in a
training facility."

The exercise is expected to go well, said Christmas, because the town
has welcomed the Marines with open arms, unlike other cities that have
resisted military urban training.

"We have to work closely together," he said. "Daily, our commanding
officers will meet with the town officials to go over that day's plans.
So far they have given us any help we need," explained Christmas.

The checkpoint training is designed to teach Marines proper checkpoint
security, according to Christmas. Soldiers will learn how to stop and
search vehicles and the people in them. Residents will not be affected,
he said, because the Marines already have a number of "role players" who
will be the actual ones stopped and searched rather than the general
public.

Marines will also learn how to deal with certain patrol scenarios, and
how to move strategically through developed areas, according to
Christmas.

"Another good thing about what we are doing is that we are staying in
Swansboro," said Christmas. "That makes it much more realistic than if
we just drove down here every day."

The purpose of the training is to be ready for the "real thing" when it
comes, according to Christmas. He said that he expects this unit to be
called upon for such duties in the Mediterranean region later this
summer, perhaps in July. The training is not for domestic use of the
military, according to the release from Shoemake.

"They are going that extra mile by training in Swansboro," said Col.
Kenneth J. Glueck, Jr., 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit Commander. "That
type of dedication is what makes us the best."

Gov. James B. Hunt Jr., D-N.C., was not available for comment. A
spokeswoman for his office was unaware of the plans and could not tell
WorldNetDaily if the troops were operating under Title 10 or Title 32 of
the U.S. Code. She said she could not comment on whether Hunt was aware
of the exercise and did not know if he had given approval.

Title 32 generally applies to the Army and Army National Guard, which
requires approval from the governor. Title 10 applies to the U.S. Armed
Forces and requires presidential approval before the military can
participate in a police action within the United States.

WorldNetDaily has reported extensively on the growing trend of U.S.
military forces training in civilian settings. During the past year,
there have been over 200 such military training exercises in civilian
areas, many involving live arms fire.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_bresnahan/20000407_xex_marines_la
nd.sht ml

via: bible_prophecy-news@onelist.com

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========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - New ID Cards Won'ts Carry Devilish 666
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Sat, 8 Apr 2000 10:43:22 -0400

Friday April 7 7:52 AM ET

 New ID Cards Won't Carry Devilish 666

NICOSIA (Reuters) - God-fearing Greek Cypriots were reassured on Monday
that new identity cards will not bear the number ``666'', which
Christian scriptures link to the devil.

An Interior Ministry official told Reuters the new cards would in any
case carry six and not three digits.

The island's Greek Orthodox Church had sought assurances that the new
cards would not bear the so-called ``number of the Beast'', which the
Bible's Book of Revelation says will identify the Antichrist.

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000407/od/idcards_1.html

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

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