To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Supernova 1987A Poised for Comeback
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 08:04:15 -0500

SUPERNOVA 1987A POISED FOR COMEBACK

It has been 13 years since the brightest supernova in centuries
appeared in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The expanding debris of
Supernova 1987A has been fading ever since, but astronomers have been
anticipating a resurgence, as the outflowing gas collides with a ring
of material believed to have been ejected 20,000 years before the
original star exploded. In 1997, a bright knot appeared on the ring,
indicating that the shock wave had arrived. Images taken by the Hubble
Space Telescope this month have revealed more hot spots. Thus, as
Peter Garnavich (University of Notre Dame) explains, "The real
fireworks show is finally starting, and over the next 10 years things
will get spectacular." Astronomers expect the supernova remnant to
become strong source of radio and X-ray emission.

Sky & Telescope News Bulletin - February 18, 2000

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Keep Hackers out of Israel
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 08:07:48 -0500

Tuesday , Feb 15, 2000 Sun-Thu at 18:00 (GMT+2) Headlines

MK Anat Maor: Keep Hackers Out of Israel
By Uri Rabin

MK Anat Maor, chairperson of the Knesset Committee for Research and
Development and Technological Development, asked Attorney General
Elyakim Rubinstein to consider ordering Minister of the Interior Natan
Sharansky to prevent the entrance of computer criminals into Israel.

Maor was reacting to press reports of a world conference of hackers to take
place soon in Israel. Maor is convinced that allowing participants in the
conference to enter Israel constitutes glorification of their unacceptable
activities.

The hacker conference, called Y2HACK, will take place on March 28-30, at
the same time as the InternetWorld exhibition in the Israeli Trade Fairs and
Convention Center in Tel Aviv. The hacker conference will feature well known
hackers, such as John Draper and Andy Miller, representatives of the
information protection industry, and representatives of the legal authorities.

"The hacker phenomena is an example of terrorism in the full meaning of the
word", Maor writes. "Damages by hackers to various Internet sites amount to
$3 billion.hackers are likely to cause enormous damage to innocent
customers trading through the Internet".

Published by Israel's Business Arena on February 14, 2000

From Israel's Business Arena,
http://www.globes.co.il/cgi-bin/Serve_Archive_Arena/pages/English/1.2.1.17/2
0000214/1

via: cyberwar@onelist.com

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - US secret agents work at Microsoft
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 12:01:49 -0500

US secret agents work at Microsoft: French intelligence

Source: AFP | Published: Saturday February 19, 7:44 AM

PARIS, Feb 18 - A French intelligence report today accused US secret
agents of working with computer giant Microsoft to develop software allowing
Washington to spy on communications around the world.

The report, drawn up by the Strategic Affairs Delegation (DAS), the
intelligence arm of the French Defence Ministry, was quoted in today's
edition of the news-letter Le Monde du Renseignement (Intelligence World).

Written by a senior officer at the DAS, the report claims agents from the
National Security Agency (NSA) helped install secret programmes on
Microsoft software, currently in use in 90 per cent of computers.

According to the report there was a 'strong suspicion' of a lack of security fed
by insistent rumours about the existence of spy programs on Microsoft, and
by the presence of NSA personnel in Bill Gates' development teams.

The NSA protects communications for the US government, and also
intercepts electronic messages for the Defence Department and other US intelligence
agencies, the newsletter said.

According to the report, 'it would seem that the creation of Microsoft was
largely supported, not least financially, by the NSA, and that IBM was made
to accept the (Microsoft) MS-DOS operating system by the same
administration.'

The report claimed the Pentagon was Microsoft's biggest client in the world.

The Sydney Morning Herald,
http://www.smh.com.au/breaking/0002/19/A27800-2000Feb19.shtml

via: cyberwar@onelist.com

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Morning of the jackal
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 17:52:13 -0500

Morning of the jackal
Liat Collins

A new sort of political animal was spotted in the Knesset last week--and it
was truly a wild beast. After 10 years of rumors, and unconfirmed sightings
concerning the existence of jackals in the area of the government buildings,
Rose Garden, and Sacher Park in Jerusalem, a wildlife camera crew last
week managed to shoot a jackal--on film--as it ran onto the Knesset grounds.

A National Geographic team was in the area in the early morning to film a
report on the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel's bird observatory
in the Knesset compound. During the filming of "An Israeli Window," the
camera team suddenly spotted a female jackal approcahing the area from
the Sheikh Bader cemetery next to the bird station.

The experienced wildlife cameraman immediately trained the lens on the
jackal, which seemed equally surprised to find live humans in the area, ran
toward the Knesset, and disappeared, leaving the team to joke about it
seeking parliamentary immunity.

Although jackals usually live at a distance from cities, apparently the drought
this year brought them closer to urban dwellings where there is a better
supply of food and water. Jackals have been heard howling in the area, but
no positive sighting had been made until last week.

The female jackals at thist time of year are usually in an advanced stage of
pregnancy and this, too, could be a reason why the animal was desperate
enough to look for food in the heart of the capital.

"They eat...anything which has some proten in it," said the SPNI's Amir
Balaban, who runs the bird observatory. "Jackals are opportunists, they seek
every chance to further themselves."

They should feel right at home in the Knesset.

The Jerusalem Post
North American Edition
February 18, 2000
12 Adar I, 5760
--------------------

Webster's

jackal: 1: any of several Old World wild dogs (esp. Canis aureus) smaller
than the related wolves; 2 a: a person who performs routine or menial tasks
for another; b: a person who serves or collaborates with another esp. in the
commission of base acts.

sheikh: 1: an Arab chief

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Time to Look East
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 17:52:13 -0500

Sir,

Should the Israelis give away the Golan, their military may be in for a bitter
surprise. The trade-off of the Golan in exchange for some undefined peace is
based on an unstated assumption, namely that Israel can trust the
Americans to help should the Syrians one day dare to treacherously violate
the agreement. But such help is not at all certain. In fact, I predict that the
opposite might happen.

What the present-day Israeli leaders fail to realize is that in case an
agreement is reached with Syria, that country will be re-armed with
sophisticated American weapons, similar to what the Egyptians are now
obtaining. Syria, however, will then also be in possession of the Golan
plateau--an ideal launch site for its missiles. More importantly, however, the
Syrians will be able to *count* on the Americans in case war breaks out with
the Jews, as happened during the 1967 conflict with Egypt.

So it will be a sort of peace while having a loaded pistol at your head.

The conclusion is that Israel, which is anchored in Asia, perhaps should start
looking East...toward China, for example, for an alternative protector.

Mart Stanislawski
Vitry, France

Letters to the Editor
Jerusalem Post North American Edition
February 18, 2000
12 Adar I, 5760

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