BPR Mailing List Digest: 07/20/00

Philologos
BPR Mailing List Digest
July 20, 2000

Digest Home | 2000 | July, 2000

To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - July 20, 2000 TV Programs
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2000 08:29:56 -0400

8:00 PM Eastern

DISC - SUBMARINE DISASTERS - "Deep Secrets" - Technology
allows the development of the submarine.(CC)(TVG)

HIST - CURSE ON THE GYPSIES - A history of the tribes shows
their beginnings in India and through their victimization in
World War II.(CC)(TVG)

9:00

TLC - THE REAL JESUS CHRIST - The apostle Paul emerges as
the dominant force in shaping Christian
beliefs.(CC)(TVPG)

10:00

ABC - 20/20 DOWNTOWN - Former pop star Cat Stevens
discusses his new lifestyle.(CC)

PBS - AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHY: A CENTURY OF IMAGES -
          "The Photographic Age, 1935-1959" - Photography plays a major
          role in the explosion of mass media and
          journalism.(CC)(TVPG)

CNN - CNN NEWSSTAND - Corporations are cracking down
on unauthorized computer use.(CC)

DISC - BEYOND BIZARRE - "Goths and Zombies!" - Chupacabra of
Puerto Rico; Haiti; Burning Man Festival.(CC)(TVPG)

HIST - BRIDGES - Bridges play a key role in the human quest
to connect and unify.(CC)(TVG)

TLC - MYSTERIOUS MAN OF THE SHROUD - The Shroud of
Turin provokes heated controversy.(CC)(TVG)

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Food for Thought As Carnivorous Robot Is Born
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2000 08:31:52 -0400

Food for Thought As Carnivorous Robot Is Born

LONDON (Reuters) - Man really is in danger of being swallowed up by
technology after U.S. scientists announced on Wednesday they had
designed a robot that runs on meat.

Dubbed Chew Chew the ``gastrobot,'' a 12-wheeled train-like robot runs on a
microbial fuel cell, which breaks down food with bacteria and converts it
into electrical energy, according to a report in New Scientist magazine.

The cell works by producing enzymes that break down carbohydrates,
releasing energy, inventor Stuart Wilkinson of the University of South Florida
in Tampa told the magazine.

``The ideal fuel in terms of energy gain, is meat. Vegetation is not nearly
as nutritious,'' Wilkinson said. ''Changing food into electricity isn't
unique. What I've done is to make it small enough to fit in a robot.

Chew Chew eats sugar cubes but early applications for gastrobots may
include lawnmowers which eat grass clippings, New Scientist said.

But Chew Chew's diet is refined compared to that of a gastrobot being
developed at the University of the West of England -- it eats slugs.

Wilkinson is jokingly aware of the dangers of giving gastrobots a taste for
meat: ``Otherwise they'll notice there's an awful lot of humans running
about and try to eat them.''

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000719/sc/robot_dc_1.html

via: transhumantech@egroups.com

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

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - **Dutch will not prosecute Pope for anti-gay remarks**
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2000 08:37:32 -0400

Dutch will not prosecute Pope for anti-gay remarks

Updated 6:34 AM ET July 18, 2000

  AMSTERDAM, July 18 (Reuters) - Dutch authorities will not
  prosecute Pope John Paul for discrimination after he slammed a
  gay rights march as an "offence to Christian values," an
  Amsterdam court said on Tuesday.

** It said the public prosecutor had decided not to press charges
  because of the Pope's status as head of the Roman Catholic
  church, head of the Vatican state and highest representative of
  the Holy See. This position gave him global immunity from
  jurisdiction, the court said in a statement.**

  Earlier this month, Dutch magazine Gay Krant filed a complaint
  against the Pope after the pontiff criticised a gay rights march in
  Rome. The 80-year-old Pope said in a speech that the Church
  considered homosexuality "objectively disordered" and
  condemned homosexual acts as being "against natural law."

  The remarks drew wide condemnation from gay rights activists
  around the world, who accused the Vatican of fuelling
  homophobia.

http://news.excite.com/news/r/000718/06/crime-pope-dutch

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] - Court rules against student's web site
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2000 08:41:04 -0400

Court rules against
student's Web site

by Dave Racher
Daily News Staff Writer

                      An eighth-grader who created a Web site on which he
                     solicited money to hire a hit man to kill one of his
                     teachers isn't protected by free speech, a
                     Commonwealth Court has ruled.

                     The ruling means that the student will remain
                     permanently expelled from the Bethlehem Area School
                     District, in Northampton County.

                     The boy had appealed a lower court's decision
                     upholding the district's expulsion, arguing that the
                     action violated his right to freedom of speech.

                     His site, called "Teacher Sux," targeted his algebra
                     teacher and the principal of Nitschmann Middle
                     School.

                     Among other things, his Web page called for the
                     teacher's death and gave her derogatory names, and
                     showed a picture of her severed head dripping with
                     blood.

School officials ruled the site constituted harassment
and threats, but no criminal charges were filed.

                     Commonwealth Judge Jess S. Jiuliante said the
                     district has the authority to "discipline students for
                     off-campus activity, where that activity materially and
                     substantially interferes with the education process."

The written ruling, released last week, did not identify
the boy or his age.

                     "Generally, the freedom of speech is a fundamental
                     right," Jiuliante noted. "As such, any limitation placed
                     upon it is to be strictly construed in light of a
                     compelling governmental interest.

"However, speech that is lewd, obscene, profane,
libelous and insulting is not constitutionally protected."

On his site, the boy "morphed [his teacher's] likeness
into one of Adolf Hitler," Jiuliante said.

He also used the site to solicit $20 from readers to
hire "a hit man" to kill the teacher.

The principal was accused of having an extramarital
affair.

                     The site "has had lasting effects" on the teacher and a
                     "demoralizing impact" on the entire school
                     community," Jiuliante noted.

                     "Regrettably, in this day and age where school
                     violence is becoming more commonplace, school
                     officials are justified in taking very seriously threats
                     against faculty and other students," the judge said.

In a dissenting opinion, Judge Rochelle S. Friedman
said she did not believe the site was a serious threat.

                     "In cases such as this, we must strike a delicate
                     balance between recognition of the dangers that,
                     unfortunately, exist in our schools today and the
                     reality that children, no matter how sophisticated their
                     knowledge may be, are nevertheless children,
                     immature and naive," the judge said.

http://web.philly.com/content/daily_news/2000/07/18/local/WEBB18.htm

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

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Sterilise HIV Positive People - Swazi MPs
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2000 08:45:45 -0400

Sterilise HIV Positive People - Swazi MPs

                           African Eye News Service (South Africa)
                           July 16, 2000
                           by Lunga Masuku

Mbabane, Swaziland - Two prominent Swaziland parliamentarians have
suggested that people with HIV be sterilised to prevent babies from being
born with the disease.

Their suggestion has sparked outrage on Swaziland Internet discussion
groups with Chris Lowe of Portland, Oregon, warning that Swaziland could
find itself isolated from the international community.

"If Swaziland adopted this as a policy it would become an instant pariah, in
the same class as Afghanistan under the Taliban," he warned.

But Swaziland's Matsenjeni South MP Timothy Buthelezi, who once said
dagga could cure AIDS, is set to make the motion when parliament resumes
next week.

He will be supported by MP S'kakadza Matsebula of Motshane, who once
said HIV/Aids was addressing an exploding population better than family
planning.

Antoinne de la Motte posted the following email to the discussion group:
"We need to take these "ministers" - educate them and then elect them to
public office not the other way around - 'cause one day something as
laughable (and horrific) as this will actually make legislation...."

International studies indicate that life expectancy in Swaziland will drop to
from 62 to 30 years due to the impact of Aids in the next 10-years.

http://www.africanews.org/south/swaziland/stories/20000716/20000716_feat2.
html

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Edupage items (7/19/00)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2000 08:54:28 -0400

NADER PROPOSES NEW DOMAIN NAMES FOR PROTESTERS
Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader--in conjunction
with two activist groups, Consumer Project on Technology and
Essential Information--is asking ICANN for authorization to
construct 10 top-level domain names, such as .sucks, .complaints,
and .isnotfair, in order to ensure the rights of free speech to
unhappy consumers. The move would also prevent larger companies
like Bell Atlantic from registering domain names such as
BellAtlanticsucks.com in order to dissuade or avoid protesters.
Barring organizations that own a particular domain name from
utilizing the .sucks version of that domain name will ensure that
critics of that organization will have an opportunity to share
their opinions. The Dot Sucks Foundation would receive all the
money raised by selling access to these domain names, and this
money would be used to assist in the funding of online
free-speech arguments. Other Nader-proposed top-level domains
include .union and .customers, the latter of which would be
utilized "to create democratically managed membership
organizations of the customers of particular companies," says
Nader. (Christian Science Monitor Online, 17 July 2000)

HOUSE PASSES LEGISLATION TO STEM JUNK E-MAIL FLOOD
An anti-spam bill sponsored by Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.)
sailed with ease through the House yesterday by a 427-1 vote.
Rep. Gene Greene (D-Texas) touted the legislation as "a tool that
can now be used to filter and stop unwanted intrusions into our
homes and offices." The bill empowers the FTC to take action
against violators of the bill's terms, gives ISPs the freedom to
sue spammers, and forces those sending unsolicited e-mails to
place an accurate return address on messages. The Direct
Marketing Association believes the bill still needs some work.
Jerry Cerasale, the DMA's senior vice president for government
affairs, says the bill unnecessarily burdens direct marketers and
gives consumers carte blanche to sue the senders of unsolicited
e-mails. "We agree with the vast majority of the bill," Cerasale
says. Cerasale says the DMA will push for revisions of the
Senate version of the bill. (USA Today, 19 July 2000)

via: EDUCAUSE <EDUCAUSE@EDUCAUSE.EDU>

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - "Let him kiss me...."
From: bpr-list@philologos.org
Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2000 07:57:28 -0500

"Let him kiss me..."

(Num 20:23-28) And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in
mount Hor, by the coast of the land of Edom, saying, {24}
Aaron shall be gathered unto his people: for he shall not
enter into the land which I have given unto the children of
Israel, because ye rebelled against my word at the water of
Meribah. {25} Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring
them up unto mount Hor: {26} And strip Aaron of his
garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son: and Aaron
shall be gathered unto his people, and shall die there.
{27} And Moses did as the LORD commanded: and they went up
into mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. {28}
And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon
Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there in the top of the
mount: and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mount.

In the Stone Edition of the Chumash (Torah), there is a
small commentary to the above verses relating to Aaron's
death that, when I read it, immediately brought to mind the
phenomenon of "ghosts." Now, I don't know what ghosts are
or if they even exist. I've never actually seen one myself
nor do I hope to (I'm not sure my feet could run fast
enough, though I am sure they would be giving it their
best shot). We've all heard stories of old houses being
haunted. Usually these hauntings involve the tragic death
or murder of someone that was associated with the
dwellings. Or how about the stories of kings and queens who
roam the many rooms of their beloved castles, apparently
unwilling to leave behind their treasures and past glory.
One theory into the mystery of ghosts is that they are
disembodied spirits that are not able "to cross over" to
the other side for whatever reason. Could there be some
truth to this?

The Chumash commentary explains that in the case of Aaron,
his death came "by a kiss of God." It was the belief of
the Sages that there were 903 "species of death" and that
death by "a kiss of God" was the easiest:

"Similarly it has been taught: Nine hundred and three
species of death were created in this world...The worst of
them is the croup, and the easiest of them is the kiss.
Croup is like a thorn in a ball of wool pulled out
backwards. Some people say: It is like [pulling] a rope
through the loop-holes [of a ship]. [Death by a] kiss is
like drawing a hair out of milk." (Soncino Talmud, Mas.
Berachoth 8a)

The comparison of an easy death to that of "drawing a hair
out of milk" reflects the opinion that the soul leaves the
body and goes to the Divine Presence without resistance.
Such were the deaths of Moses and Aaron who were of such
stature that their "souls remained as pure as when they
first arrived on earth, there is no effort, no regret, and
no pain when the soul is reunited with its Godly source."

This exalted form of death is in contrast to the death of
person who, as R' Gedaliah Schorr explains, has sinned in
life to such an extent that a bond is established between
the soul and the pleasures of this world that it "becomes
difficult for them to part from physical life." Such a
death is likened to "pulling embedded thistles from sheep's
wool." (The Chumash, Stone Edition, Parashas Chukas, p. 847)

----------

(Song 1:2) Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth:
for thy love is better than wine.

Soncino Zohar, Shemoth, Section 2, Page 124b: "R. Isaac
quoted in this connection the words: 'Let him kiss me with
the kisses of his mouth' [Song 1:2], and said: 'It is the
Community of Israel who says this (to God). Why does she
say 'Let Him kiss me' instead of 'Let Him love me'?
Because, as we have been taught, kissing expresses the
cleaving of spirit to spirit; therefore the mouth is the
medium of kissing, for it is the organ of the spirit
(breath). Hence he who dies by the kiss of God is so united
with another Spirit, with a Spirit which never separates
from him. Therefore the Community of Israel prays: 'Let Him
kiss me with the kisses of His mouth', that His Spirit may
be united with mine and never separate from it."
owner-bpr@philologos.org
July 15, 2000

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - PM okays $1.25 bil. J'lem plan
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2000 09:03:00 -0400

Thursday, July 20, 2000

PM okays $1.25 bil. J'lem plan

By Motti Bassok
Ha'aretz Correspondent

Following a telephone directive from Prime Minister Ehud Barak from Camp
David a $1.25 billion, five-year plan has been set in motion to strengthen
Jerusalem.

Details of the plan were discussed at a meeting held in Jerusalem the day
before yesterday between Ministers Avraham Shochat and Haim Ramon,
Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert and Salai Meridor, chair of the Jewish
Agency. Half the money is to be provided from the state budget and the other
half by a campaign to be instigated abroad by the Jewish Agency.

Sources close to Shochat say the date for the meeting was set previous to
the Camp David summit, with Barak scheduled to attend. Barak asked the
ministers to hold the meeting in his absence to accelerate the development
of Jerusalem as a "national Jewish project" that would ensure the unity of the
city. At the meeting it was decided to invest in all aspects of life in the city,
with special emphasis on the development of East Jerusalem.

Opposition spokesmen claim that details of the meeting were deliberately
leaked in the light of rumors from Camp David that the Prime Minister was
prepared to give up on parts of Jerusalem.

http://www3.haaretz.co.il/eng/scripts/article.asp?mador=14&datee=07/20/00&
id=85 360

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Researchers: Light Can Exceed Its Own Speed Limit
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2000 12:56:40 -0400

Fast Break
Researchers: Light Can Exceed Its Own Speed Limit

The Associated Press

July 20 - Scientists have apparently broken the universe's speed limit.
For generations, physicists believed there is nothing faster than light
moving through a vacuum-a speed of 186,000 miles per second.

But in an experiment in Princeton, N.J., physicists sent a pulse of
laser light through cesium vapor so quickly that it left the chamber before
it had even finished entering.

The pulse traveled 310 times the distance it would have covered if the
chamber had contained a vacuum.

Breaking the Barrier

Researchers say it is the most convincing demonstration yet that the speed
of light-supposedly an ironclad rule of nature-can be pushed beyond known
boundaries, at least under certain laboratory circumstances.

"This effect cannot be used to send information back in time," said
Lijun Wang, a researcher with the private NEC Institute. "However, our
experiment does show that the generally held misconception that 'nothing
can travel faster than the speed of light' is wrong."

The results of the work by Wang, Alexander Kuzmich and Arthur Dogariu
were published in today's issue of the journal Nature.

The achievement has no practical application right now, but experiments
like this have generated considerable excitement in the small international
community of theoretical and optical physicists.

"This is a breakthrough in the sense that people have thought that was
impossible," said Raymond Chiao, a physicist at the University of California
at Berkeley who was not involved in the work. Chiao has performed similar
experiments using electric fields.

In the latest experiment, researchers at NEC developed a device that
fired a laser pulse into a glass chamber filled with a vapor of cesium
atoms. The researchers say the device is sort of a light amplifier that can
push the pulse ahead.

Doubts Raised

Previously, experiments have been done in which light also appeared to
achieve such so-called superluminal speeds, but the light was distorted,
raising doubts as to whether scientists had really accomplished such a feat.

The laser pulse in the NEC experiment exits the chamber with almost
exactly the same shape, but with less intensity, Wang said.

The pulse may look like a straight beam but actually behaves like waves
of light particles. The light can leave the chamber before it has finished
entering because the cesium atoms change the properties of the light,
allowing it to exit more quickly than in a vacuum.

The leading edge of the light pulse has all the information needed to
produce the pulse on the other end of the chamber, so the entire pulse does
not need to reach the chamber for it to exit the other side.

The experiment produces an almost identical light pulse that exits the
chamber and travels about 60 feet before the main part of the laser pulse
finishes entering the chamber, Wang said.

Wang said the effect is possible only because light has no mass; the
same thing cannot be done with physical objects.

Testing Einstein's Theory

The Princeton experiment and others like it test the limits of the theory of
relativity that Albert Einstein developed nearly a century ago.

According to the special theory of relativity, the speed of particles
of light in a vacuum, such as outer space, is the only absolute measurement
in the universe. The speed of everything else - rockets or inchworms-is
relative to the observer, Einstein and others explained.

In everyday circumstances, an object cannot travel faster than light.

The Princeton experiment and others change these circumstances by
using devices such as the cesium chamber rather than a vacuum.

Ultimately, the work may contribute to the development of faster
computers that carry information in light particles.

Not everyone agrees on the implications of the NEC experiment.

Aephraim Steinberg, a physicist at the University of Toronto, said the
light particles coming out of the cesium chamber may not have been the
same ones that entered, so he questions whether the speed of light was broken.

Still, the work is important, he said: "The interesting thing is how
did they manage to produce light that looks exactly like something that
didn't get there yet?"

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/science/DailyNews/light000720.html

via: transhumantech@egroups.com

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Re: Jerusalem
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Cynthia")
Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2000 17:44:40 -0600

As a devout Christian, who looked into converting to Judaism some years ago,
and who also feels compassion for the Palestinians, is there not a solution
to the issue of Jerusalem? An international city? I don't want to cause a
bru-ha-ha, I just feel that the controversy over a Holy Place for so many
could be resolved with God's help. Is anyone praying without
ego-involvement? Just wondering. Thank you. Cynthia

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

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