BPR Mailing List Digest: 06/07/00

Philologos
BPR Mailing List Digest
June 7, 2000

Digest Home | 2000 | June, 2000

To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - June 7, 2000 TV Programs
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Wed, 7 Jun 2000 08:13:34 -0400

8:00 PM Eastern

PBS - GOING PLACES - "Turkey" - Turkey: Istanbul;
bath; wooden sailboat; rock
formations.(CC)(TVG)

HIST - THE END OF THE WORLD - Researchers investigate the
role of miracles, visions and prophecies throughout
history.(CC)(TVG)

TLC - EXTREME MACHINES - "Flight of the Future" -
Unconventional aircraft designs and
technologies.(CC)(TVG)

9:00

TLC - THE ULTIMATE TEN - "Technological Disasters" - Human
errors lead to technological disasters, including the sinking
of Titanic.(CC)(TVG)

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Vatican To Play Russia, Europe Role
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Wed, 7 Jun 2000 08:16:55 -0400

Vatican To Play Russia, Europe Role

Updated 6:51 PM ET June 6, 2000

By VICTOR L. SIMPSON, Associated Press Writer

  VATICAN CITY (AP) - The Vatican on Tuesday said it is
  prepared to play an active role in promoting closer ties between
  Russia and Western Europe and expressed satisfaction with the
  visit by Russia's new president.

  At the same time, however, a Vatican spokesman dismissed
  suggestions that Monday's meeting with Russian President
  Vladimir Putin represented a setback to Pope John Paul II and
  his dream of visiting Moscow.

  Such a trip would crown the pontiff's efforts toward
  reconciliation between Roman Catholics and Orthodox
  Christians.

Russian and Vatican officials insisted that a visit was not on the
agenda of Monday's talks.

  "To try to read yesterday's audience between Putin and the holy
  father in terms of a possible trip is reductive and improper," said
  the pope's spokesman, Joaquin Navarro-Valls.

  But both sides said negotiations were under way between the
  Vatican and the Orthodox church to clear obstacles blocking
  such a trip.

  For the Vatican, an invitation issued by then-President Mikhail
  Gorbachev in 1989 still stands. "Once a door has been opened it
  remains open until it is closed," Navarro-Valls said.

  Putin, in comments in Rome and during a stopover in Milan,
  Italy's financial capital, suggested he was optimistic a trip could
  be arranged.

"I am convinced that everything will go for the best," Putin said.

  Moscow's Orthodox Patriarch Alexey II has been the chief
  stumbling block. Long-standing theological divisions have been
  worsened by Catholic missionary activity since the fall of
  communism in traditionally Orthodox Russia.

  Vatican news media gave prominent attention to Putin's visit,
  particularly his comment that that the Vatican "has an important
  mission to play" in integrating Russia into Europe.

  John Paul took note of that comment, Navarro-Valls said. "The
  pope is pleased that Russia recognizes the importance of the role
  the Vatican can play in bringing East and West Europe closer
  together."

In Milan, Putin met with Italy's leading industrialists and financiers
with the stated goal of expanding Italian investment in his country.

  "I'm here to explain the state of the Russian economy and
  changes in political and economic fields," Putin said. "I'm also
  here to hear their worries about fiscal problems and how to
  improve investment conditions."

  One project, announced after a meeting with officials of Fiat, is a
  joint venture with the Russian Gaz company for the production of
  75,000 cars in a new factory at Nizhny Novgorod.

Putin also met with heads of Italy's ENI energy company, with
which Russia conducts trade worth $2 billion annually.

http://news.excite.com/news/ap/000606/18/int-italy-putin

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

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Schoolchildren in Drunken Riot
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Wed, 7 Jun 2000 08:21:31 -0400

Tuesday June 6 11:18 AM ET

Schoolchildren in Drunken Riot

NAIROBI, Kenya (Reuters) - Schoolchildren as young as five went on a
``drunken'' rampage, looting shops, burning a vehicle and consuming the
contents of a beer wagon after one of their friends was killed in a traffic
accident.

Hundreds of students barricaded roads and pelted traders and vehicles with
rocks on Monday after a nine-year-old pupil at James Gichuru School in
Nairobi was killed by a speeding public minibus -- or ``matatu'' -- when he
bent over to pick up a pencil.

``One of our children was hit by a speeding matatu,'' the school's headmaster
told Reuters. ``After this, there was rioting involving children from all the
schools around.''

A teacher at another primary school in the area said James Gichuru pupils
had come round to all the schools to gather support.

``They just ran out of the classroom like crazy demons,'' she said. ``We
managed to hold back some of the little ones but the others, they went
hitting people, pah! hitting cars, pah!''

The children set fire to the matatu and then embarked on a spree of violence
that lasted for eight hours, effectively taking over the suburb of Dandora.

``They really, really want speed bumps,'' the teacher said. ''That is why they
got drunk and smashed things, to make a point. But nonetheless they are
serious hooligans. They are like English football fans.''

The driver and conductor of the matatu escaped. Thieves later stole the
engine of the burned-out minibus.

No details on injuries were available.

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000606/od/kenya_riot_dc_1.html

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

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Mexican Government Gets Men Stripping to Win Votes
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Wed, 7 Jun 2000 08:23:46 -0400

Mexican Government Gets Men Stripping to Win Votes

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's long-ruling Institutional Revolutionary
Party (PRI), facing a tough test in July 2 presidential elections, has a secret
weapon to win the female vote -- male strippers.

The PRI, which has governed Mexico for 71 years, entertained around
150,000 citizens of a poor neighborhood just outside Mexico City one
afternoon last week with ``The Sexy Boys,'' weekly magazine Proceso
reported on Sunday.

The strippers performed for almost two hours, impersonating personalities
and super heroes and throwing their clothes in the air in time to music.

Against a backdrop of promotional banners for PRI's candidates for president
and other political posts, five of them peeled down to white boxer shorts that
spelled out ``Vote for PRI'', Proceso said.

``I'm surprised. I've never seen anything like it in a Mexican political
campaign,'' said Josefina Franzoni, analyst at the Mexican Institute of
Political Studies.

Women make up 51 percent of the 59 million registered voters for Mexico's
election, which pits the PRI against the conservative National Action Party
(PAN), running neck-and-neck in opinion polls.

The dancers performed in Mexico state, which is currently governed by the
PRI and has the highest number of voters, at 7.5 million.

``It's great that we can see nude men, but I would like to see more (political)
proposals,'' said Franzoni.

PAN's candidate, Vicente Fox, has seen his popularity slip, giving PRI a slim
lead due mainly to the female vote, an independent newspaper poll said on
Monday.

Of 1,542 people surveyed May 27-28 in the nationwide poll, commissioned
by the Reforma daily, 38 percent said they supported Fox, down from 40
percent in a May 12-14 Reforma poll.

Labastida held steady at 42 percent, with a strong female and rural backing.

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000606/od/mexico_strippers_dc_1.html

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

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Infobeat News items
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Wed, 7 Jun 2000 08:48:13 -0400

*** Justices back rule of law elsewhere

WASHINGTON (AP) - One-third of the Supreme Court appeared before an
international audience Tuesday to promote the rule of law in other
nations. One justice's suggestion: put court decisions on the
Internet. "I would like to see written opinions of high courts around
the globe, written, interpreted in several languages and put on Web
sites so that the world can see what you're doing," Justice Sandra
Day O'Connor said at a World Bank-sponsored conference on legal and
judicial development. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy said it is important
for judges on the new European Court of Human Rights to "begin
writing decisions which have the capacity and the power to inspire
and to persuade." Nations' economies depend on having a fair and
effective legal system, because without it people will not invest
there, added Justice Stephen G. Breyer. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2567141715-f01

*** China official to visit Yugoslavia

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (AP) - A top Chinese official will visit
Yugoslavia next week in a sign of support for embattled President
Slobodan Milosevic's government. Li Peng, the speaker of China's
parliament and second-ranking member of the ruling Communist Party,
will make the official visit June 11-13, according to a statement
from Yugoslav authorities that was carried by the official Tanjug
news agency. Li will address the Yugoslav parliament during a session
June 12, Beta news agency reported It was not clear whether the
Chinese lawmaker will meet Milosevic, who has been politically
isolated by the U.S. and its allies and indicted by the U.N. war
crimes tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands. China is one of the few
countries maintaining ties with Milosevic's government following last
year's NATO bombing of the country. Milosevic visited China in
November 1997. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2567139992-753

*** Israel majority seeks new elections

JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel's coalition government teetered Tuesday as a
majority emerged for a bill to call new elections, a move that would
paralyze Middle East peace efforts for months. But legislation for
new elections would face four separate votes, including one expected
Wednesday, before the elections are actually called. While the
parliamentary hurdles leave lots of room for deals, a clear majority
for elections could stampede the legislative process for an election
bill. The crisis erupted after Prime Minister Ehud Barak called the
bluff of his main coalition partner, Shas, and unexpectedly broke off
talks about more state money for the Orthodox party's bankrupt school
system. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2567140769-b6c

*** Quake injures 2 in Japan

TOKYO (AP) - A fairly strong earthquake jolted western Japan
Wednesday, injuring two people and stopping local train service
temporarily. Police said the injuries were minor, both from falling
debris inside homes. The 5.8 magnitude earthquake was centered about
6 miles under the seabed in the Sea of Japan at a point about 50
miles, northwest of Komatsu, Ishikawa prefecture (state), the
Meteorological Agency said. Komatsu, a city with 110,000 people, is
145 miles northwest of Tokyo. There were dozens of aftershocks
recorded in the four hours after the initial tremor, the
Meteorological Agency said. Residents of an apartment building in
Kaga, a city near Komatsu, reported that water supply was cut by the
quake, apparently after a pipe broke, police said. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2567150190-4ea

*** Jamestown burial site to be studied

JAMESTOWN, Va. (AP) - The winter of 1609-1610 is known as the
"Starving Time," when only one out of every four colonists at
Jamestown survived hunger, disease and Indian attacks. Archaeologists
this summer will begin excavating an unmarked burial ground to try to
learn more about that winter - and the early, often desperate years
of America's first permanent English settlement. The project will
help expand the limited knowledge of the beginnings of the country,
Roxane Gilmore, Virginia's first lady, said at a news conference
Tuesday at the dig site. "Seventeenth-century America is basically a
lost century," said Gilmore, honorary chairwoman of the planned
commemoration in 2007 of the 400th anniversary of Jamestown's
founding. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2567142455-986

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Battle to define 'sexual rights' looms at U.N
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Wed, 07 Jun 2000 08:59:58 -0500

June 5, 2000

Battle to define 'sexual rights' looms at U.N

By George Archibald
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

NEW YORK — As 10,000 women from 189 countries converge
here for a United Nations special session on women's
equality, delegates from the United States and other
wealthy nations are battling representatives from poorer
countries over homosexual rights, the status of the
traditional family and the "sexual rights" of girls.

The weeklong session, which opens today, was called to
mark progress since the 1995 Beijing international women's
conference and set a further U.N. agenda to bring about
global equality between men and women over the next five
years. The session begins with a welcome by Secretary-
General Kofi Annan and a workshop address by U.S. first
lady Hillary Rodham Clinton to the U.N. Development Fund
for Women.

But behind the scenes, where the session's final report is
being negotiated, delegates from the United States and
other rich countries are at odds with representatives of
poorer, undeveloped nations over issues that take up half
the report: sexual behavior, pornography and prostitution.

"The problem is the aggressive attempt by the liberal
Western powers to rewrite the original Beijing document,
something the General Assembly ordered them not to do,"
said Austin Ruse, president of the Catholic Family and
Human Rights Institute, a U.N.-monitoring organization
based in New York.

"The Western powers, led by the U.S. and the European
Union, seem fixated on advancing notions that have been
rejected by democratic procedures all over the world," Mr.
Ruse said. "A whole set of ideas are being met with fierce
opposition within the negotiating bloc of the developing
world called the Group of 77, or G-77."

The G-77 is a U.N. voting bloc consisting of 138
developing nations in Latin America, Africa, the Middle
East and China. The opposing bloc of rich countries
includes JUSCANZ — Japan, the United States, Canada,
Australia, New Zealand, Luxembourg and South Korea — and
the European Union, consisting of Britain, France, Germany,
Sweden, Norway, Finland, Spain and other countries.

Mary Ellen Glenn, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Mission to
the United Nations, said she had not read the draft report
and could not answer why so many areas were in dispute
between the United States and the G-77 nations and the Holy
See.

But she added, "There are some measures of cohesion
between the U.S. and G-77. We have agreed to three family
measures in the last couple of days. We are looking for
balance."

She said one of the family measures involved "parenting,
motherhood and procreation not being used as a basis for
discrimination." Another involved "mothers and fathers
sharing equally in household responsibilities, the family
as a stabilizing factor in conflict and post-conflict
situations."

"There are many areas we are still working on," the U.S.
spokeswoman said. "We are in active negotiations. We'll
have it done by the end of the week. I think it will be
something all member states can agree on."

Conference participants said an immediate fight will occur
over credentials for lobbyists from so-called non-
government organizations (NGOs), heavily dominated by
liberal feminists, who are trying to limit last-minute
negotiating by more conservative NGOs aligned with the G-77.

"JUSCANZ attempted to hijack the preparatory negotiations
in March by pushing a consensus over issues regarded as
objectionable and unconstitutional by many developing
nations, the Arab nations, and the Holy See," the Vatican's
delegation at the United Nations, said Maria Sophia
Aguirre, an NGO representative of the National Institute of
Womanhood, based in Bethesda, Md.

"Perhaps one of the more contentious of the JUSCANZ-backed
issues was language regarding the reproductive rights of
the girl-child," Mrs. Aguirre said. "Such language aimed to
ensure the girl-child's right to a 'full realization' of
her sexuality and sought to entitle the girl-child to
private and confidential sexual and reproductive
information, counseling and services 'both in and out of
school' by implementing national mechanisms, policies and
programs."

Mrs. Aguirre said the attempted expansion of U.N. women's
rights initiatives to cover minor children in the sexual
realm has "angered" women from less-developed countries,
where religious faith is strong.

According to the draft document, updated as of yesterday
on the United Nations' Internet Web site, the Clinton
administration is backing efforts to block language in
support of religious and cultural values of individual
countries and regions, and to uphold the national
sovereignty of countries when they disagree with a U.N.
position in the name of women's rights.

The report records the United States, as part of the
JUSCANZ bloc, in opposition to language promoted by the G-
77 nations that it is the "sovereign responsibility of each
state," depending on its own religious, ethical and
cultural values and convictions of its own populace, to
implement the goals of the U.N. equal rights agenda for
women.

Another statement unacceptable to developed countries
calls on world governments to "promote responsible sexual
behavior, including abstinence."

Instead, JUSCANZ and EU countries want the U.N. report to
call on world governments to provide "male and female
condoms, voluntary HIV testing and counseling, and
intensify research on . . . microbicides and vaccines . .
, provide access to adequate and affordable treatment and
care for people with sexually transmitted diseases, HIV and
. . infections such as tuberculosis."

Mr. Ruse described the U.N. special session as "a left-
wing hootenanny." He said efforts by G-77 nations and the
Holy See to modify the draft U.N. women's agenda for the
next five years were backed by "a coalition of people with
strong faith" among official government delegates and NGO
lobbyists at the General Assembly special session. He said
the coalition included "orthodox Catholics, evangelical
Christians, Mormons and Muslims."

http://washtimes.com/national/default-20006522428.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] - Human life is sacred, not the gratification of someone's desire
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Wed, 7 Jun 2000 11:35:56 -0500

Human life is sacred, not the gratification of someone's desire
Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks's speech

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/et?ac=002550734463243&rtmo=fqfDMqss&atmo=tttttttd
&pg=/et/00/6/7/ngm207.html

WE have had enormous debate recently on genetically modified food. I want
to talk about something else, namely the prospect, which will be very real in
future decades, of genetically modified human beings.

There is no doubt that the discovery of DNA and the decoding of the human
genome are among the most exciting advances ever made in human
knowledge.

Their potential benefits are vast.

There is no doubt that there is beginning to be a prospect that, through
genetic screening and gene splicing, we may be able to cure previously
incurable genetic conditions such as Huntingdon's chorea, Tay-Sachs
disease, cystic fibrosis, maybe even Down's syndrome. But the question is,
will we know where to stop, will we be able to draw the essential line
between therapeutic and eugenic gene surgery?

Let me give two examples: there is a famous Jewish teaching which makes
its appearance at the end of Steven Spielberg's film Schindler's List and it
says: Whoever saves a single human life is as if he had saved an entire
universe.

That same passage from rabbinic teaching tells us why. It says: If a human
makes many coins in one mint they all come out the same, but God makes
many people all people in one image, in his image, and yet they all come out
different. In other words, the sanctity of life is rooted in the uniqueness of the
human person; in the non-substitutability of one life for another.

Imagine 50 years from now, a couple whose child, God forbid, dies young.
Could any of us blame them for going to a doctor and asking her to create a
clone of their lost child. I couldn't blame such a person, and yet what would
then happen in a culture where such things become possible and even
routine?

What become of our concepts of love, and loss, of the sanctity of human
life. If persons are no longer individuals but rather genetic types that can be
replicated at will, what then become of our most central ethical values?

That is a hypothetical example, but here is something that happened quite
recently. An Italian businessmen and his Portuguese wife already had two
children, both through surrogacy. They decided they wanted a third and that
they wanted it to be male, tall, athletic, and blond.

They went to an agency in Denmark who found them a sperm donor in the
United States and an egg donor and a surrogate mother in Britain. The
surrogacy was performed in a surgery in Athens and after 21 weeks the
dreadful thing happened, they discovered that instead of a boy which the
parents had commissioned - had ordered - the surrogate mother was
carrying twin girls.

The couple demanded that the surrogate mother have an abortion. She
refused. Instead she waited until the twins were born and looked for a couple
to adopt them. She eventually found a lesbian couple living in Hollywood,
where the babies are now raised by an nanny from Puerto Rico.

Now I ask a very simple question. What are those children if not
commodities who have been produced to order, even to design specification,
and then traded across the world? Is that what human life will come to? Who
are the parents of those children?

What story will those children tell themselves to explain how they came to
be in the world? Does this not threaten our most fundamental moral axiom of
all: that persons are ends in themselves and not means, that they are sacred
and not gratifications of someone's desire.

If the concept of the sanctity of life is simply a tribal relic in our civilisation,
that it is some kind of advance to see humanity as simply electro-chemical
brain processes, so if I see a certain dehumanising of the economy, I see a
certain dehumanising in the medical or in the genetic engineering process as
well. I see ourselves deconstructing the bases on which happiness rests
which include among other things - number one, an environment where I am
valued for the way I am, not for the way I vote, not for what I wear, and not for
what I spend.

Where - number two - my life is sacred. It is not there as a means to
someone else's end and it is not terminable because of shortage of medical
resources.

Third - the story that tells me the history of my society, a part of whose
continuing narrative tells me who I am and what I am called on to do. Those
things were once embedded in our culture but have become far less
accessible today.

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Daily bread at trendy Christian cafe
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Wed, 7 Jun 2000 12:15:15 -0500

Wednesday, June 7, 2000
JAPAN TODAY

Daily bread at trendy Christian cafe
CHRIS BETROS

http://www.scmp.com/News/Asia/Article/FullText_asp_ArticleID-200006070235272
25.asp

"Give us this day our daily bread." Those words take on a whole new
meaning at one trendy cafe in downtown Osaka that is using Christianity to
attract and entertain its customers. More than in any other city in Japan,
Osaka entrepreneurs seem to be the most innovative when it comes to bars and
restaurants. Currently enjoying boom times is the controversial Kirisuton
Cafe (Christian cafe), which is being promoted with a slogan that
church-going is the trendy millennium thing to do. The Kirisuton might not
have much to do with religion, but it looks the part. The owners spent 200
million yen (HK$14.4 million) to create a replica of a church, complete with
stained-glass windows, an altar, statues of Mary and Jesus and a huge mural
depicting the Last Supper. Waiters dressed in cassocks with crucifixes
around their necks busily serve patrons, who sit on authentic pews. Manager
Kenichi Hikichi said a real clergyman had visited his restaurant and said it
was more ornate than a church. The menu, though, is down to earth, with a
choice of sushi, Italian delicacies and cocktails. "At first I was going to
put Christian references on the menu, like a Barabbas Burger, Sign of the
Cross Salad, and so on, like I've seen in trendy American cafes, but I
figured that might be going too far. I also didn't want to offend anyone,"
Mr Hikichi said. The cafe has also become a much sought-after venue for
weddings, funerals and wakes. Christian-style weddings have long been
popular among Japanese couples, who usually fork out a fortune to get
married in a hotel chapel before going off to the restaurant. At Kirisuton,
they can do it all. But by far the most unusual event held so far at
Kirisuton has been a wake for Hai Seiko, a popular race horse that succumbed
to a heart attack. Over 150 people crowded into the restaurant for a rousing
farewell. Buddhist priests officiated and mourners, clasping their hands in
prayer, offered flowers before a huge photo of the nag.

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - On the near disappearance of the solar wind
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Wed, 7 Jun 2000 13:22:55 -0400

ON THE NEAR DISAPPEARANCE OF THE SOLAR WIND

The surface of the Sun and the regions immediately exterior
to it constitute a domain in which various forces are played out
on an immense scale. The bright surface layer of the Sun is
called the "photosphere", a region a few hundred kilometers thick
at a temperature that ranges from 5770 degrees kelvin at its
innermost part to 4400 degrees kelvin at its outermost part, the
Sun's temperature minimum. Above this is the "chromosphere",
approximately 9000 kilometers thick, where the temperature ranges
from the minimum at the photosphere-chromosphere interface to
approximately 20,000 degrees kelvin. And above the chromosphere
is the "corona", the Sun's faint outer atmosphere, where the
temperature is 2 million degrees kelvin or more.

The solar wind is the steady flow of charged particles,
consisting primarily of protons and electrons, from the solar
corona into interplanetary space. The solar-wind particles have
energies high enough to enable the particles to escape the Sun's
gravitational field, but the wind is influenced by the Sun's
magnetic field, and the particles can be trapped by planetary
magnetic fields.

On 11 May 1999, the particle density of the solar wind
unexpectedly decreased to a remarkably low value -- approximately
0.2 particles per cubic centimeter, compared with a normal value
of 10 particles per cubic centimeter, and a special meeting of
the American Geophysical Union was devoted to the phenomenon last
December.

... ... Alan J. Lazarus (Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
US) presents an account of the special meeting, the author making
the following points:

1) Other instances of low-density solar wind are known, but
this period of more than 27 hours on 11 May 1999 was the longest
known period having a density below 1 particle per cubic
centimeter. At 360 kilometers per second, the speed of the wind
was near its typical value of approximately 400 kilometers per
second, but the pressure exerted by the wind was so low that the
shock front formed by the interaction between the incoming
supersonic wind and the magnetic field of Earth moved outward
from its usual location (approximately 15 Earth-radii in front of
Earth as measured along the Earth-Sun line) to at least 60 Earth-
radii and near the Moon.

2) Normally, the completely ionized solar wind *plasma
compresses the dayside magnetic field of Earth because of the
relatively high conductivity of the wind. The resulting pressure
flattens the magnetic field on the sunward side and drags it out
on the night side into a tail many Earth-radii long. On 11 May
1999, the unusually low pressure resulting from the low-density
wind allowed the magnetic field of Earth to reassert its dipolar
shape over a larger volume.

3) The term "strahl" refers to a particular region of the
solar wind electron velocity distribution, the region forming a
beam that streams in a narrow cone along the magnetic field
lines. On 11 May 1999, the strahl dominated the electron velocity
distribution. Because the solar wind density was so low, the
strahl electrons were relatively unscattered by collisions in the
solar wind, and they arrived near Earth in an unusually intense
and narrow beam that penetrated into the north polar region. The
electron collisions with the atmosphere of Earth over the north
polar region generated the strongest x-ray emissions ever seen
from the polar cap.

4) Why periods of very low density solar wind occur remains
unknown, but such low wind flux periods tend to appear on the
ascending portion of the *solar activity cycle, which is the
period we are in now. The author concludes: "Discussion of low
solar wind flux periods will undoubtedly occupy solar
astrophysicists for years to come."
-----------
Alan J. Lazarus: The day the solar wind almost disappeared.
(Science 24 Mar 00 287:2172)
QY: Alan J. Lazarus [ajl@space.mit.edu]
-----------
Text Notes:
... ... *plasma: In general, in this context, a "plasma" is a
fully ionized gas consisting of ions and electrons moving freely.
... ... *solar activity cycle: The term "solar activity" refers
to all active phenomena on the surface of the Sun, including
sunspots, active prominences, flares, active regions, etc. In
general, solar activity is strongly associated with magnetic
fields which are believed to arise from a dynamo action within
the Sun. Solar activity increases and decreases in a cycle
lasting approximately 11 years.
-------------------
Summary & Notes by SCIENCE-WEEK http://scienceweek.com 9Jun00
For more information: http://scienceweek.com/swfr.htm
-------------------

SCIENCE-WEEK

A Weekly Email Digest of the News of Science

A journal devoted to the improvement of communication
between the scientific disciplines, and between scientists,
science educators, and science policy-makers.

June 9, 2000 -- Vol. 4 Number 23

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - US, Jordan confer on Mideast peace process, trade
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Khazneh")
Date: Wed, 7 Jun 2000 13:23:16 -0400

US, Jordan confer on Mideast peace process, trade

Crowley said the United States is eager to support the King and his
stewardship of the Jordanian economy
by Gretchen Cook

"We have agreed to enter into bilateral free-trade negotiations" - White
House spokesperson

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

June 07, 2000, 05:43 AM
CASABLANCA (AFP) - The United States and Jordan will open talks on a new
free-trade pact between the two countries, the White House announced
Tuesday, following a meeting between President Bill Clinton and His Majesty
King Abdullah.

"We have agreed to enter into bilateral free-trade negotiations," said White
House spokesman PJ Crowley.

The king, who was primarily here to discuss the Middle East peace process,
agreed to include negotiations on labor and environmental issues, Crowley
said.

Crowley said the United States is eager to support the King and his
stewardship of the Jordanian economy.

"Jordan has been a very reliable partner in the peace process and having a
stable Jordan is important to the region," he said.

The United States is hoping to draw on the King Abdullah's inherited
influence in the Middle East at a critical juncture in Mideast peace talks.

Washington is working feverishly to propel the on-again, off-again Middle
East peace process to a final deal as deadlines loom and Clinton's
opportunity for a foreign policy coup narrows in his final days in office.

And Jordan, whose late King Hussein frequently greased the Israeli and
Palestinian wheels, is once again called to help.

"The king is following in his fathers` footsteps as a valued intermediary in
the region, so the president will welcome his perspective on how things
are," said Crowley.

Clinton said Tuesday he was encouraged by a Mideast mission by Secretary of
State Madeleine Albright, but acknowledged that Israel and the Palestinians
still have "difficult" decisions to make.

"Secretary Albright, I think, has had a good trip out there," Clinton said
just before meeting with King Abdullah. "We know it's not going to be easy,
but I'm encouraged." "His Majesty and I are going to talk today," Clinton
said. "So after that, we'll make some decisions about what to do next.

"But we're down now to the difficult issues and to the difficult decisions.
And those of us who are not charged with making them, but are charged with
helping them get made, we'll just have to try to create the best possible
environment." King Abdullah said there had been "healthy discussions"
between Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud
Barak, adding "we have to give them the benefit of the doubt and see what
unfolds in the next meeting." Albright announced Tuesday that Arafat will
meet with Clinton in Washington next week in what US officials hope will
produce a summit with Barak sometime soon.

King Abdullah is said to be supportive of plans for an eventual Palestinian
state on the West bank -- Jordanian land seized by Israel in 1967 -- and the
Gaza Strip.

Prospects for a deal before the September 13 deadline have improved with the
"the dynamic shifting from the withdrawal from Lebanon" by Israel, according
to Crowley, who cautioned, however, against undue optimism.

"We have no doubt that there is still hard work ahead," he said.

The peace talks broke off last week without any reported progress on the
main issues dividing the two sides, particularly the fate of Jerusalem,
Palestinian refugees, final borders of a future Palestinian state and Jewish
settlement in the occupied territories.

"We are in the midst of the final status issues and they are the most
difficult to be resolved and will require the courage and creativity on
behalf of the parties if we're going to reach an agreement particularly
given the challenging time line they have set for themselves," Crowley said.

Time is of the essence: Arafat has threatened to declare a Palestinian state
unilaterally if no deal is reached by the September 13 deadline.

Clinton is also anxious to secure a Middle East peace deal before he leaves
office next January to add to his legacy, analysts say.

http://www.arabia.com/jordan/article/0,5127,News|2282,00.html

Bill Clinton, 'head' of the free world...
House vote on impeachment: December 19, 1998

Senate acquittal on Feb 12, the 43rd day of the year.
Bill Clinton, the survivor.

Who is like Clinton? Who can make war with him?

The King Abdullah stood up on February 7, the 43rd generation descendant of
the *prophet* Mohammed.

Moses was called the 'servant of God' (cf. Moses to the name Meshach,
'drawing out')
Abdullah = 'servant of Allah', also translated to mean 'servant of God'
because of the claim that Allah is God

Who was like Hussein [the peacemaker]? Who can make war with him?

In Hussein's estate... the Hashem-ite king, servant of Allah and mediator of
the new [peace] covenant (testament).

1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men,
the man Christ Jesus;

Gog [Satan]...

Ezekiel 38:2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the
chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,
Ezekiel 38:3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O
Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:

Hebrews 9:14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the
eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience
from dead works to serve the living God?
Hebrews 9:15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament,
that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were
under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise
of eternal inheritance.
Hebrews 9:16 For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the
death of the testator.

From the Koran (Jesus supposedly speaking as a baby):

[19.30] He said: Surely I am a servant of Allah; He has given me the Book
and made me a prophet;

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Major Solar Storm Detected
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Wed, 7 Jun 2000 12:30:50 -0500

Major Solar Storm Detected
By JOSEPH B. VERRENGIA, AP Science Writer

http://www.latimes.com/wires/20000607/tCB00V0126.html

BOULDER, Colo.(AP)--Scientists have detected a major solar flare erupting on
the sun that could buffet Earth with a geomagnetic storm in the next two
days.

The blast of charged solar particles already is producing scattered radio
blackouts but is not expected to significantly disrupt telecommunications or
electrical power. It might generate a dramatic light show for midnight
stargazers in the northern latitudes until early Saturday.

The sun is approaching the height of its 11 -year storm cycle. Unlike
previous cycles, this period has been relatively quiet, with eruptions every
two months or so.

This storm is estimated to be 20 times stronger than a solar flare in early
April.

"Finally, the sun is beginning to flex its muscles," said solar forecaster
Dave Speich of the federal Space Environment Center in Boulder.

The latest eruption came at midday Tuesday from a cluster of sunspots on the
upper left of the sun as viewed from Earth. A powerful X-ray flare ejected
an estimated billion tons of charged particles into space.

Riding the solar wind at speeds up to 2 million mph, the particles should
zap Earth's magnetic field late Thursday or early Friday. The sunspot
cluster could be active another eight days.

Solar flares can create electrical disturbances that disrupt power supplies,
telecommunications and signals that control pipelines and other systems. The
particles can damage satellites and alter their orbits.

The storm is rated as moderate on the federal government's new space weather
scale.

In 1989, a severe solar storm knocked out power stations serving Canada and
the northeastern states, as well as an electrical transformer in New Jersey.
Since then, power grid and satellite operators have taken steps to protect
their systems.

The clouds of charged particles also produce the aurora borealis, or
northern lights. Weather permitting, the light show from this storm could be
visible as far south as Washington, D.C.

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Fears over quake island
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Wed, 7 Jun 2000 12:43:49 -0500

Fears over quake island

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/asia-pacific/newsid_780000/780710.stm

Concern is growing for the residents of a small Indonesian island situated
near the epicentre of Sunday's massive earthquake.

Nearly all the houses on Enggano, off the coast of Sumatra, were destroyed,
but so far it is not known what happened to the population of nearly 2,000.

On Sumatra itself, tens of thousands of people have spent a third night
outdoors, fearful of more aftershocks.

Foreign aid has begun to arrive in the region.

At least 117 people are now known to have died, many of them crushed in
their sleep by collapsing buildings.

But the figure is expected to rise as communications are restored with the
worst affected areas.

Seismologists said nearly 400 aftershocks had followed the initial quake in
Bengkulu province, which measured 7.9 on the Richter scale.

-- more --

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - King Abdullah sees President Clinton as ideal Mideast peace broker
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Khazneh")
Date: Wed, 7 Jun 2000 13:56:26 -0400

King Abdullah sees President Clinton as ideal Mideast peace broker

By TOM HARRIGAN
Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Jordan's King Abdullah II said Monday the door to Middle
East peace is open and President Clinton is the best person to try to
mediate it between Israel, Syria and the Palestinians.

The king, who meets with Clinton in Washington on Tuesday, spoke at a Los
Angeles World Affairs Council luncheon. He met with Syria's President Hafez
Assad last month and with Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian
leader Yasser Arafat in April.

The breakdown of peace talks between Israel and Syria in January could be
only temporary, said the monarch who espouses the Middle East peace platform
established by his father, King Hussein, who died in March 1999.

"The door is definitely open," he said in reference to his May 21 talks with
Syria's Assad. "They are as dismayed as anyone else. The will is there in
Syria. The will is there in Israel.

"In the United States your president is in a unique position. They all have
faith in this man to bring them together. I've never before seen this
opportunity for one man to bring together all these parties for a solution
to their problems," the king said in response to an audience question after
his speech.

Abdullah said the recent withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon
has added to the chances for peace in the region.

"It shows Israel is sincere and dedicated to have peace with its neighbors,"
he said. "There is a golden opportunity for our region to settle the issues
of conflict."

Warren Christopher, former secretary of state under Clinton and a Los
Angeles attorney, said in introducing the king's speech: "His father left
him a platform of achieving peace in his neighborhood, and he is quickly
establishing himself in the region in his father's role."

Much of Abdullah's talk stressed a need for cooperation rather than
competition in peacetime economic development of Middle East nations.

"There is a need for a new reality based on well-being of peoples," he said.
"Too much of our resources have been wasted on war and conflict."

"Our main problem in Jordan is our economy," he said of his tiny nation of 5
million people and its efforts to prepare its young to take part in the
global information economy. He said he hopes that within two years Jordan
will be self-sufficient and no longer reliant on international development
programs.

"I'm 38 years old, and 77 percent of the country's people are younger than
me. It's this new generation that will be the future," he said.

Abdullah was accompanied by Queen Rania and young Jordanian Prince Ali, who
bears a remarkable resemblance to the late King Hussein.

He opened the talk with a comment that immediately won his audience over and
brought him a huge ovation.

"First, I want to congratulate all of you here on the outstanding
performance of the Lakers," he said of the Los Angeles' basketball team's
winning the NBA's Western Conference Finals the night before.

http://www.sacbee.com/news/calreport/calrep_story.cgi?N365.HTML

Larry King Live Weekend
King Abdullah II Discusses the Future of Jordan
Aired June 3, 2000 - 9:00 p.m. ET

>>>KING ABDULLAH: There's a saying coming out of Jordan now. We've started a
campaign. Jordan: small country, big ideas. And I think that describes us
very well. I remember being a student in the United States, people saying,
where do you come from? Jordan. Don't know where Jordan is. King Hussein.
Oh, OK, I know what you're talking about. So Jordan became much larger than
it should have been because of his majesty. And that's something that we've
been able to grow and build on.

KING: So you don't look at yourself as small? I mean, realistically, you
know geographically you're small?<<<

***
>>>KING: Why is President Clinton, who, as you know, in the United States
people either love or hate -- there's a tremendous both-way relationship
with him -- so popular out of this country?

KING ABDULLAH: Well, because he has been very strong on international
policies. He's followed through. He has won over the hearts of many leaders
across the world.

KING: Is he popular throughout Jordan?

KING ABDULLAH: Yes, absolutely. And my father and him hit it off right away.
And he's had the ability -- he's a very charismatic man, a very intelligent
man -- and he's had the ability to win over, as I said, the prime minister
of Israel, the Palestinians and Syria.<<<

http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0006/03/lklw.00.html

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - (Fwd) "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion": An Iranian Perspe
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Wed, 7 Jun 2000 17:54:24 -0400

Rev 12:15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the
woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.

'If each one of the Moslems of the world pour a
bucket of water towards Israel, the Israelite murderers will be drowned'

------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date sent: Wed, 07 Jun 2000 09:20:56 -0700
To: memri@erols.com
From: MEMRI <memri@erols.com>
Subject: "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion": An Iranian
Perspective

Special Dispatch

June 7, 2000

No. 98

Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI)
1815 H Street, NW Suite 404 Washington, DC 20006
Phone: (202) 955-9070
Fax: (202) 955-9077
E-mail: MEMRI@erols.com
Website: www.memri.org

[MEMRI holds copyrights on all translations. Materials may only be cited
with proper attribution.]

"The Protocols of the Elders of Zion"
An Iranian Perspective

Hizbullah's recent advance to the Israeli border brings an Iranian
ideological proxy closer than ever to what official Iranian propaganda
deems "the Satanic enemy."(1) This new situation requires that Iran's
government media be examined.

Some insight into the Iranian perspective on Israel is provided by an
edition of the notorious anti-Semitic forgery, "The Protocols of the
Elders of Zion," which was published by the Iranian government. Iran is
not alone in spreading this forgery, but its own edition supplies an
introduction which describes both in words and images (such as the map it
contains) Iran's view of itself in the struggle to destroy Israel. The
map is meant to show not only the scope of Jewish expansionist ambitions
but also that Iran is the most important Muslim adversary to Israel. The
text also elaborates the notion that Iran's dedication to this cause is
the purest and most reliable.

The following are excerpts from the text and a copy of the map:

"The anti-human crimes, aggressions and murders committed by the Zionists
and their inveterate rancor against Islam and Muslims are known to one and
all…."

"A boundless passion for usurpation and hegemony is typical of these
professional criminals of history; a passion which they try to satisfy
through their fickle logic of 'From the Nile to the Euphrates.'"

"For the last 35 years, in conspiration with the equally murderous
superpowers, they have been getting closer and closer to their devilish
objective."

"…Not only has the complicity of the superpowers strengthened this
cancerous tumor in the heart of the Islamic Middle-East, but also the
silence of the Muslim Arab nations and the reactionary rulers of the
region, has encouraged its aggressions and increased penetration."

"To preserve their position among the Islamic nations, these reactionary
rulers pretend opposition to Israel. However, for fear of their American
masters, they do no take the slightest action against the Zionist
aggressions."

"The birth of the great Islamic Iranian Revolution in the region, had been
and will be the greatest danger to Israel. Before the emergence of the
Islamic Revolution and the establishment of an Islamic Republic in Iran,
the American regime ruling the country at that time, was one of the
closest friends of Israel and had clandestine relations with the usurping
government. But no sooner did the Islamic Revolution of Iran become
victorious, that all relations with Israel were severed and serious
efforts at uprooting this cancerous tumor were started."

"The liberation of Al-Quds [Jerusalem] and Palestine was one among the
many decisive slogans that originated from the Islamic Revolution of Iran.
Imam Khomeini, the exalted Leader of the Islamic Revolution, has
repeatedly pointed out to the world Moslems how dangerous this Satanic
enemy could be."

"His famous statement, 'If each one of the Moslems of the world pour a
bucket of water towards Israel, the Israelite murderers will be drowned,'
is among the many meaningful statements of the great Leader, Imam
Khomeini."

"Moreover, it should be strongly emphasized that as long as the root of
this deadly, cancerous tumor, Zionism, is not burned and wholly destroyed,
peace and tranquillity will never prevail in the region."

"The world Moslems, particularly those of the Middle East, should come to
their senses and realize the disastrous consequences that this dangerous
enemy -- Israel -- could bring about. Now, there is no time for
hesitation."

"In this connection and to expose the real visage of this satanic enemy,
we present this book…."

TO VIEW THE MAP, PLEASE SEE THIS PIECE ON OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.MEMRI.ORG

Endnotes:

(1) In a recent article, columnist Charles Krauthammer observed that
Hizbullah's takeover of Southern Lebanon puts "Iran on Israel's border"
through its proxy Hizbullah. The Weekly Standard, June 5, 2000.

The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) is an independent,
non-profit organization providing translations of the Arab media and
original analysis and research on developments in the Middle East. Copies
of articles and documents cited, as well as background information, are
available upon request.

------- End of forwarded message -------

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

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