To: bprlist@egroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Personal Radar on the Horizon
From: research-bpr@philologos.org
Date: Sat, 18 Nov 2000 17:45:21 -0000

Personal Radar on the Horizon
by Leander Kahney

2:00 a.m. Nov. 16, 2000 PST

LAS VEGAS -- A new radio technology that will yield super-fast
wireless networks, personal radar devices and in-home location systems
is
being shown at Comdex for the first time.

Time Domain, a startup from Huntsville, Alabama, is at the convention
showing off just some of the many uses for its ultra-wide-band (UWB)
technology -- a pulse radio system with the potential to shake up
telecommunications and usher in a new era of personal radar systems
and
short-range location devices.

Previously, the technology has been demonstrated mainly in
private. Comdex is its first big, public showing.

Unlike traditional radio signals, which are transmitted on a single
frequency, UWB signals are carried on many different frequencies at
once. But they are transmitted at such low power, they hardly rise
above background radio noise and therefore don't interfere with other
radio devices.

Information is transmitted as a stream of short-wave radio pulses,
which can penetrate walls and the ground. Depending on the power,
operational range is between a few feet and a few miles.

In a hotel suite near the convention center, Time Domain executives
demonstrated a 10 Mbps wireless network, which is based on the
company's first generation UWB chip, called the PulsON.

The second generation PulsON chip, which goes into production at the
end of the year, transmits data at 40 Mbps -- four times the speed of
802.11, a popular wireless networking standard.

Time Domain hopes to see the first home wireless networking products
released in early 2002, operating at 40 Mbps.

Within four years, it expects to boost data rates to 1 Gigabit per
second and to have shrunk the chip so that it can be easily
incorporated into cell phones and handhelds.

But because the PulsON chip includes a very fast digital signal
processor, which can time with extraordinary accuracy the transmission
and
reception of radio signals, it can also act as a radar that sees
through
walls and the ground.

And if extra antennas are added, the chip acts as a locating device,
using differences in reception times between the antennas to track the
location of people or objects.

Executives showed a short-range radar that monitors a "bubble" of
space around itself with a five-foot radius. An alarm goes off if
someone steps into its range.

Time Domain said UWB radar could lead to myriad personal radar
devices, including a motion-detecting alarm system that recognizes the
difference between pets and people.

It could also be used as a collision avoidance system for automobiles,
helping drivers to parallel park. And it can tell if something big and
fast is about to hit the vehicle -- and deploy airbags before the
collision.

A location-tracking system was also demonstrated. On a computer
monitor, the system showed the movement of a robot cart as it trundled
around the hotel suite. Competing tracking systems, executives said,
are
accurate to within a few feet. The UWB system was accurate to within a
few
inches.

The technology has lots of uses in industrial automation, but could
also be used for a home tracking system that tells the location of
pets, children, or possessions.

"You'll never lose your car keys or remote control again," said Stan
Bottoms, a Time Domain executive.

UWB was developed through decades of more-or-less solo effort by Larry
Fullerton, a self-taught engineer, who is now being hailed as the new
Marconi.

Time Domain, which Fullerton co-founded, holds many of the key UWB
patents. The PulsON chip will be manufactured by IBM using its new
silicon germanium chip-fabrication process. Time Domain has teamed up
with
some big names, including Sony, Siemens and General Electric, to bring
UWB
products to market.

The company has authorization from the Federal Communications
Commission to test the technology and recently received special
dispensation to sell a ground- and wall-penetrating radar to rescue
crews.

The Radar Vision is so sensitive it can find people from the movement
of
their breathing through thick walls of concrete or rubble. Police
forces
are testing it to preview rooms before a raid.

UWB is also being tested extensively by the military: The Navy is
looking into a "man-overboard" locating device, while the army is
interested in a wall-penetrating radar for urban combat.

And because UWB looks like ordinary radio noise, it can't be
pinpointed like a traditional radio that betrays an operator's
position with a burst of radio energy. UWB could end the tradition of
maintaining radio silence during military operations, Time Domain
said.

"We're like a 13-year-old that finished in the winning pack in the
Boston marathon," said Ralph Petroff, the company's CEO and president,
comparing UWB to more mature radio technology. "Just wait until this
kid
grows up."

However, Time Domain executives complained about the glacial pace of
getting regulatory approval for UWB in the United States. The process,
they said, has been dragging on for more than a decade.

By contrast, British authorities began the approval process in
September and expect to overtake the FCC by early next year. Petroff
said the British see its potential for opening up a whole new band of
untapped radio spectrum.

"It was invented here in the U.S." said Petroff, "but the regulators
just don't get it."

http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,40210,00.html

via: transhumantech@egroups.com

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To: bprlist@egroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] NewsScan items (11/17/00)
From: research-bpr@philologos.org
Date: Sat, 18 Nov 2000 17:46:02 -0000

SEVEN NEW TOP-LEVEL DOMAIN NAMES:
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has
decided to add seven new top-level domain names for Internet
addresses:.info, .biz, .name, .museum, .aero, museum, and .coop. The
first
two will be for general use, with biz expected to relieve the pressure
for
businesses to find a unique name within the popular .com domain, which
now
has 20 million sites; .pro is intended for professionals, such as
doctors
and lawyers; .name will be used to designate personal Web sites;
.museum
will be restricted to museums; .aero for airline groups; and .coop for
business cooperatives. ICANN did not give its approval to other domain
names that had been proposed to it, including .web, .kids, .xxx,
.union,
.health, .travel, and .geo. The new names will not be put into effect
no
sooner than next Spring. (New York Times 17 Nov 2000)
http://partners.nytimes.com/2000/11/17/technology/17DOMA.html

HEALTH ORGANIZATION ANGRY ABOUT DOMAIN-NAME DECISION
The Geneva-based World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a
statement
expressing strong displeasure at ICANN's decision not to include a
top-level domain name designated .health, and stating that the
organization will "begin immediately to explore ways of recourse." WHO
had
proposed creation of a .health domain to be used strictly for sites
providing information and services which met the quality standards of
WHO
and public health organizations, consumer groups, and academic
institutions. (Reuters/San Jose Mercury News 17 Nov 2000)
http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/internet/docs/646427
l.ht
m

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To: bprlist@egroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Making of a Pig-man
From: research-bpr@philologos.org
Date: Sat, 18 Nov 2000 17:46:29 -0000

Making of a Pig-man

..........LETTER (November 17) : According to Times of London,
Scientists
have successfully produced an embryonic pig-human hybrid by inserting
human nucleus into pig's egg cell through genetic engineering. They
let it
grow to thirty-two cell stage.

..........The next step (which is the easy one) involves implanting
such
embryo either in human or in pig for further development. The
offspring
would be much more human than a pig as 97 percent of DNA, in the
nucleus
is human.

..........However, there would be some effect from the 3 percent of
DNA
from the pig. The aim of the researchers is two fold. A short term, to
get
an early patent right and a long term, to use the technology for the
benefit of mankind. The former is part of the rat race between
American,
Australian and European companies to get maximum pecuniary leverage.

..........Thanks to WTO, it is this aim which is worrisome as these
companies might cross the ethical boundaries for financial gains and
cause
more damage than the intended good they have in their mind. This has
become perspicuous from the fact that they did not make their
intentions
clear in the patent application they have submitted to the European
Patent
Office.--Ghayur Ayub (Islamabad, Pakistan)

..........Copyright 2000 Business Recorder (www.brecorder.com)

From The Business Recorder,
http://www.brecorder.com/story/S00DD/SDK17/SDK17388.htm

via: isml@egroups.com

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To: bprlist@egroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Hubble sees neutron star streaking across space
From: research-bpr@philologos.org
Date: Sat, 18 Nov 2000 17:47:10 -0000

November 9, 2000
PRESS RELEASE NO.: STScI-PR00-35

HUBBLE SEES BARE NEUTRON STAR STREAKING ACROSS SPACE

It's as big as Manhattan Island, is 10 trillion times denser than
steel, and is hurtling our way at speeds over 100 times faster than a
supersonic jet. An alien spaceship? No, it's a runaway neutron star,
called RX J185635-3754, forged in a stellar explosion that was visible
to
our ancestors in 1 million B.C. Precise observations made with the
Hubble
telescope confirm that the interstellar interloper is the closest
neutron
star ever seen. Since the object has no companion star that would
affect
its appearance, this discovery will allow future astronomers to more
easily confirm stellar theories against a variety of its physical
properties such as size, inherent brightness and true age. Now
located
200 light-years away in the southern constellation Corona Australis,
it
will swing by Earth at a safe distance of 170 light-years in about
300,000
years.

To read more about this, click on:

http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/pr/2000/35 or links in
http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/latest.html
http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/pictures.html or
http://hubble.stsci.edu/go/news

via: transhumantech@egroups.com

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========
To: bprlist@egroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Daily World Affairs Report items (11/16/00)
From: research-bpr@philologos.org
Date: Sat, 18 Nov 2000 17:47:45 -0000

PYRAMID SECRETS WRITTEN IN THE STARS

The mystery of how the ancient Egyptians aligned the Pyramids with
astonishing accuracy 4,500 years ago has been solved by a Cambridge
academic. The key to their ability to position the vast structures --
to
within a fraction of a degree of true north -- lies in the heavens,
[The
heavens also hold the key to the correct calendar!] which the ancient
Egyptians regarded as holding the key to immortality, according to Dr
Kate
Spence of the university's Faculty of Oriental Studies. If confirmed,
her
theory provides a way to date the Pyramids to within a few years,
ending
decades of debate among academics.

Many outlandish suggestions have been put forward to explain the
skills
used to build the Pyramids, ranging from helpful spacemen to the
import
from the Orkneys of Scottish building techniques. Dr Owen Gingerich of
the
Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics in America said that, at
first
sight, Dr Spence's idea seemed "as likely as sharpening razor blades
by
placing them under small pyramids". But, after inspecting her theory,
published today in the journal Nature, he declared that "Dr Spence has
come up with an ingenious solution to a long-standing mystery". He is
swayed because she explains why the ancients' ability to align
pyramids
peaked around 2467 BC and shows why, and by how much, those built
before
and after were increasingly misaligned.

All ancient people were fascinated by the pattern of stars, using them
to
track the seasons [Gen 1:14] for their agriculture. [But then we run
into
the big problem of the Precession of the Equinoxes. Because the vernal
equinox is sliding backwards through the Zodiac, the tropical/earth
seasons are now out of sync with the sidereal/star seasons. So what
does
one do? One either follows the sun and ignore what the heavens display
or
follow the stars and adjust the calendar accordingly.] Stars also
aided
navigation before the compass and before Polaris approximated to the
pole
position, as it does today.

Dr Spence believes that the Egyptians discovered that 2 stars could be
used to identify true north. One is Kochab (b-Ursae Minoris) in the
bowl
of the Little Bear (Ursa Minor), the other, Mizar (z-Ursae Majoris) in
the
middle of the handle of the Great Bear (Ursa Major). They rotated
around
the position of the North Pole and were also of deep fascination for
religious reasons: they never set, symbolising the afterlife. Pyramid
texts refer to pharaohs wanting to join the circumpolar stars after
death.

What is striking about Dr Spence's theory is that it provides an
accurate
date for the building of the Great Pyramid at Giza, also called the
Khufu
or Cheops pyramid: builders started in 2478 BC, plus or minus 5 years.
Dr
Spence shows that there was only one year - 2467 BC - when the 2 stars
lay
precisely along a vertical line that included the celestial pole. That
year, an Egyptian astronomer could wait while the heavens slowly
pivoted
around the unmarked pole until a plumbline hung from a wooden frame
exactly intersected both stars, one above the invisible pole and the
other
below it, and a post in the distance. The sight line between the
plumbline
and post would then point north. The data suggests they used it to
align
the Pyramids' west faces.

This idea would be speculative, commented Dr Gingerich, were it not
for
the discovery that the same technique accounts for the orientation of
other pyramids, which shifts over time, just as her theory predicts.
Dr
Spence found that pyramid building was influenced by the Earth's
precession - its revolving axis is unstable and rotates like a
gyroscope,
turning once in 26,000 years. The celestial North Pole was exactly
aligned
between the stars only in 2467 BC. The orientation errors of earlier
and
later pyramids faithfully track the slow drift of Kochab and Mizar
with
respect to true north.

The Khufu pyramid, being built around 2478 BC by her calculations, is
the
most accurately aligned, with a deviation of 3 arcminutes (3/60 of a
degree) to the west. Three earlier pyramids deviate more westwards,
the
older they are, while a later pyramid (Menkaure) deviates by 13
arcminutes
to the east. Plot the date of construction against the deviation and
you
get a straight line. Dr Gingrich said: "It is not preposterous to
believe
that Dr Spence can calculate dates for pyramid construction to within
5
years or so, far better than the 100-year-error currently accepted for
chronologies." (The London Telegraph)

ROYALS READY TO ASCEND THRONES IN EASTERN EUROPE

A flurry of royal visits to Eastern European nations at the end of
October
has raised speculation that an attempt may be underway to restore the
crowned heads of Europe to their respective thrones, as the current
global
order crumbles under the weight of the global financial and economic
crises:

* Crown Prince Alexander Karadjordjevic -- whose godmother is Queen
Elizabeth II -- arrived in Serbia, where he spoke at rallies and
meetings
of the Serbian royalists, telling them that he is ready to become
their
king.
 * Queen Margaret II of Denmark was in Bulgaria for a state visit
with her husband.
 * King Albert II of Belgium and his wife announced
plans for a 3-day visit to the Czech Republic. On that occasion, the
Foreign Ministers of both countries will discuss Belgium's intentions
when
it assumes the presidency of the EU, in the 2nd half of next year.
(The
New Federalist)

THE WORLD WON'T WAIT

While the American body politic hangs in a state of suspended
animation
awaiting a resolution of the 2000 presidential election, the rest of
the
world is moving on. And in important respects, it is not moving in
directions favorable to U.S. interests. The trouble is that, in the
absence of the mandate being clearly given to a new president-elect,
America's foes, competitors and friends are taking advantage of a
lame-duck incumbent who was, on a good day, regarded by many around
the
globe as irresolute and unreliable. Matters are only made worse by the
prospect that he may eventually be succeeded by a man fully implicated
in
the hash-up the Clinton administration has made of security policy
over
the past 8 years.

Consider a sampler of the international problems currently festering
due,
at least in part, to the discounting of American leadership and power:

~ In the Netherlands, a "summit on global climate change" has gotten
underway this week for the purpose of hammering out specific rules for
compelling parties to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol to meet required
reductions
in the production of greenhouse gases. There remain serious questions
about the science of global warming.

~ Meanwhile, European nations hoping to make their heavily socialized
economies more competitive by hobbling the relatively booming U.S. GNP
see
a great opportunity in the Clinton administration's willingness to
permit
the U.S. to be further implicated in the Kyoto process. This is all
the
more outrageous insofar as Mr. Clinton has not deigned even to submit
the
Protocol to the Senate for its advice and consent -- to say nothing of
securing its approval by that body.

~ The effort to get to the bottom of the terrorist attack on the USS
Cole
is foundering in Yemen. According to Sunday's New York Times, the
State
Department is backing the American Ambassador there, who is resisting
FBI
efforts to follow the investigation wherever it may lead -- including
possibly to people in high places in the Yemeni government.

~ Russian trawlers are collecting intelligence in U.S. waters against
our
ballistic missile and attack submarines -- intelligence that may
compromise the safety and security of these vitally important naval
assets
and their crews. Under President Clinton, the American government has
chosen largely to ignore this activity.

~ OPEC oil ministers have announced, naturally after the U.S.
election,
that they have no intention of further increasing their oil
production. In
fact, the cartel intends to consider further production cuts at its
next
meeting in 2001. These actions could have profound effects on not only
the
U.S. economy and Americans' quality of life, but on the global
economic
situation as well. In addition, the head of one of OPEC's most
important
member nations -- Venezuela's Hugo Chavez -- has begun to use his
country's oil bounty to extend the influence of his increasingly
despotic
regime elsewhere in Latin America. Worse yet, he is doing so for the
purpose of promoting an explicitly anti-U.S. agenda, together with
such
ideological soulmates as Fidel Castro and the Marxist narcoguerrillas
trying to topple the democratic government of Colombia.

~ China is one of the US's potential adversaries that has recognized
this
nation's extraordinary vulnerability to the disruption of its civil
and
military space assets. Although Beijing regularly denounces American
anti-missile programs and other defense systems that use or could be
based
in outer space, the PRC is aggressively pursuing with Russian help its
own
anti- satellite, jamming and electro-magnetic pulse weapon systems
that
could, if used against us, have a devastating effect on both U.S.
national
security and economic well-being.

In these and too many other areas to list in this limited space, the
perception has taken hold that the US is, at best, not paying
attention
and, at worst, a paper tiger. While there is, of course, a government
in
place in Washington, its past record has contributed to this
perception
and its present status only serves to compound it. It remains to be
seen
to what extent a new president will be able to ameliorate these and
similar looming challenges. What is safe to say is that the longer the
national nightmare of an endless election persists -- encouraging
fair-weather friends and foes alike to believe they can act against
U.S.
interests with impunity -- the more difficult it will be for even a
competent, visionary and principled American leader to mitigate the
damage
inflicted by such actions. (WorldNetDaily - Commentary)

* The long, drawn-out process of electing the next US President is
getting
a bit boring for some European papers. Others are calling on the
candidates to put their heads together and come up with a solution
before
the whole matter ends up before the Supreme Court. Pragueas Lidove
Noviny
is getting a bit tired of all the fuss over the US elections. It finds
Berlin far more fascinating, commenting: Itas probably never been easy
to
be an American, but these days, it must be especially difficult - or
has
any other country ever experienced the kind of a drama as is unfolding
now
in the US? The Germans, on the other hand, are simply of a different
calibre. Whereas in the US, oneas political career depends on whether
one
smoked or simply inhaled marijuana, in the Reichstag in Berlin, traces
of
cocaine have been found in the toilets! Who wouldnat rather live in a
country of such revolutionary attitudes? So forget America -- the
future
is in Berlin! (Deutsche Welle)

* Austria's Kurier likens the continuing search for the next American
president to "a lengthy hostage drama". It warns that people's
patience is
wearing thin and the waiting becoming almost unbearable. "America
wants to
know once and for all if it is to be run by Republican George Bush or
Democrat Al Gore." "In spite of the current post-electoral mess,
America
does have a president," its compatriot Die Presse reminds us. "His
name is
Bill Clinton and he is about to crown the end of his term by paying an
official visit to Hanoi." Pondering what it calls "a trip pregnant
with
symbolism", the paper says that the US is set to "heal the scars of
old
wounds". (BBC)

MICHAEL TURNER

(mykelturner@airmail.net)

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To: bprlist@egroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Daily World Affairs Report (11/17/00)
From: research-bpr@philologos.org
Date: Sat, 18 Nov 2000 17:48:40 -0000

EUROPEAN CHARTER OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS APPROVED

The European Parliament has approved the Charter of Fundamental
Rights
of
the European Union, 410-93. There were 27 abstentions in the vote
Tuesday.
Following the approval, Nicole Fontaine, president of the Parliament,
made
an urgent appeal to the member governments to give a binding
character
to
the charter, through its insertion in European treaties. The charter
will
be proclaimed formally at the Nice summit on Dec. 7. The principal
political groups voted in favor of the charter; the large European
Popular
Party and European Socialist Party voted in favor, virtually
unanimously.
Those voting against were some Communists, the British Conservatives
and
scattered Euro-skeptics. (Zenit)

GERMAN TO LEAD "EURO-ARMY"

A German general has been picked to lead the EU's new military arm in
what
appears to be a snub to the French. Lt Gen Klaus Schuwirth, commander
of
the German army's 4th Corps in Potsdam, will become the EU's Director
of
Military Staff in Brussels, with the task of creating a rapid reaction
force of 60,000 by 2003. A British major-general, Graham Messervy
Whiting,
who heads the EU's interim military committee, is to be 2nd in
command.

It had been expected that the French, who have been the main driving
force
behind the project, would provide the commander. But the Europeans
will
have to rely heavily on NATO - effectively the Americans - in a
number
of
key areas, crucially intelligence. The American reluctance to share
high-
grade signals intelligence with the French is believed to have led to
Germany winning the top post.

Gen Schuwirth, a Bavarian artillery officer, is well-known in
diplomatic
circles. His selection will not become official until confirmed by a
vote
of EU ministers. The rapid reaction force is to be backed by 300
aircraft
and a naval force. It is to be ready for action within 60 days for
deployment within a 2,500-mile radius and will be able to operate
off-base
for up to a year. Plans involve EU military action in 3 situations:
humanitarian rescue missions; troop deployment to prevent a crisis,
and
full-blown intervention to halt fighting. It is not clear how the
force
will meet its operational target date at a time when most EU states
are
cutting their defence budgets to the bone. (The London Telegraph)

N.A.T.O. OR MARY-ANN?

European defence and foreign ministers will present arms in Brussels
next
week, at a conference that will inaugurate the EU's new "rapid
reaction
force". It will draw on some 60,000 troops, under a unified and
autonomous
command. The Government is adamant that the new military structures
will
not constitute a European army. That view is not widely shared on the
Continent. Romano Prodi, President of the European Commission,
prefers
to
call a spade a spade: "If you don't want to call it a European army,
don't
call it a European army. You can call it Margaret. You can call it
Mary-
Ann."

When the new formation was first proposed, Tony Blair opposed it.
Partly
owing to his experience in the Balkans, and partly because of his
desire
to exercise influence at the heart of Europe, he later dropped his
objections. Indeed, he has taken the lead on this issue. In British
military circles, the case for a European force carries some weight.
How
else, commanders wonder, can the European pillar of NATO be
strengthened,
defence expenditure be increased, dependence on the US reduced? They
are
reassured, too, by the fact that, for as long as the new force has
some
American logistical support, the potential for friction between EU and
NATO interests will be limited.

The danger of such logic is that it ignores the political context, as
those circles are also uneasily aware. This is, in the words of the
German
foreign minister, Joschka Fischer, a "fully sovereign" European
federation, to be completed within the next 5 years. Mr Blair may
insist
that this superstate has nothing in common with the "European
superpower"
he envisages, but he has yet to explain how his distinction makes a
difference. A superpower is not a superpower unless it can advance its
interests. It may suit Mr Blair and Robin Cook, who writes on the
Opinion
page, for the public to believe that he is promoting the new force in
order to bolster NATO, but that is at best subsidiary. The principal
goal
is to endow the "fully sovereign" European federation with a defining
characteristic of sovereignty: military force.

Not surprisingly, our neighbours outside the EU are anxious to know
whom
this force might be deployed against. There is a double danger here. A
European army could, as it were, be too strong: it could undermine
NATO.
However, it could also be too weak: its capacity for concerted action
might well make the polyglot regiments of the Habsburg empire look
formidable. For the French, the political function takes precedence
over
the military. For the British, however, there will be little to show
in
return for committing our mobile strategic reserves of 12,000 men to a
force of dubious military value and even more dubious political
purpose.

Most serious is the impact on the Atlantic alliance. Washington would
refuse to share sensitive intelligence with Britain if this were
pooled
with the EU. And on such issues as the American National Missile
Defence,
to which many Europeans are hostile, Britain's loyalties would be
divided.
The new US administration may be reluctant to subsidise this
self-styled
superpower, when it faces real threats in China and elsewhere. Downing
Street is complacent about the danger of decoupling; this is real. In
June
1997, Mr Blair described the policy that has now come to fruition as
"unrealistic". He was right then; he is wrong now. (The London
Telegraph -
Editorial)

A REFUELING STOP IN NICE FOR THE EUROPE TRAIN

At their usual summit meeting last week, the leaders of France and
Germany announced their determination to make sure the EU succeeds in
settling its reform plan at next month's Nice meeting. They met with
cynicism, for good reason. For several years now, it has been obvious
that
a big overhaul of the Union's institutions is urgently essential if
it
is
to take in a dozen or more new states without succumbing to
paralysis.
And
it has been equally obvious that the necessary compromises were not
forthcoming because they require a sacrifice of perquisites and power
from
all the current 15 members.

But the 15 have promised that they will be ready to accept newcomers
by
the end of 2002, and the first 6 applicants, already busy negotiating
and
preparing, are impatient. They are the Czech Republic, Poland,
Hungary,
Slovenia, Estonia and Malta. They will not necessarily be admitted
all
at
once, as a group, but they represent the beginning of a great
transformation that eventually will include 30 or more states, the
whole
of Europe and maybe then some, around the Mediterranean. The deadline
has
become serious. It is the start of a big, inclusive Europe.

The expectations have dragged on so long, since the collapse of the
Soviet
bloc in 1990, that historic excitement has drained away. There is
still a
question about how the nascent Europe will work, the newborn's
future,
but
not about its existence as an entity. This came through with
remarkable
clarity at the Trilateral Commission's 24th European meeting over the
weekend. Some 150 of the top businessmen, politicians, academics and
opinion makers discussed the future of their continent and relations
across the Mediterranean in a context that assumes a common
enterprise.

Two British "Euroskeptics" sounded simply archaic arguing against
further
integration, although professing loyalty to the stage already
reached.
One
complained sharply at the idea that the community has embarked toward
an
"unknown destination" and said it was essential to be definite that it
should not be a state. But Continentals expressed comfort with the
prospect of a new international creature evolving, developing its
capacities as requirements are perceived. There was a sense not of a
dramatic watershed ahead but of plodding along in a direction well set
even if the point of arrival has not been defined.

Challenges exist. The police had to come out in the streets of Milan
to
contain 2 anti-Trilateral demonstrations, one from the extreme right
asserting nationalism and one from the extreme left against global
business. They wound up confronting each other. They are marginal.
There
is a global street theater agenda - Seattle, Prague, Davos, The Hague
-
noisy, largely incoherent protests that denounce globalization, the
World
Bank, big business, more or less any of the trends actually changing
the
world. They provide a sense of action to participants, but they do
not
get
in the way of actual developments because they offer no alternative.

It is because they see no acceptable alternative to a Europe that is
both
growing and consolidating that an international group such as the
Trilateral is so nearly unanimous. They want a strong, effective
Europe
for what it can do for their countries and to counterbalance the U.S.
superpower. They do not intend to be marginal. They were bewildered,
and
bemused, at the spectacle of the US having such a hard time deciding
on
who is its future president. But they were not misled into thinking
that
the very close vote and the bickering it provoked meant that America
would
now become a paper tiger.

There is both a felt need for a US that is fully engaged in the world
with
a clear sense of how it wants to use its power, and a felt need for a
countervailing European power which can only come through strengthened
institutions. So, after several years of evading the hard questions,
Europe's Nice summit may resolve the blockage and start the big
change. By
then, everyone should know the name of America's president elect and
the
peculiar period of suspense will be fading into forgetfulness.
Instead,
people will be asking what the new Europe means to the US. (Int'l
Herald
Tribune -
 Opinion)

E.U. FALLS SHORT OF MOLLIFYING ARABS' ANGER

The EU failed to placate Arab anger Thursday over its response to the
Israeli killing of Palestinians in the violence gripping the Middle
East.
France, the EU president, issued a statement on the conflict at the
end of
an impassioned 2-day meeting of EU and Mediterranean states that
appeared
to harden Europe's support for an independent Palestinian state. It
said
EU countries wanted to see such a state established "in the near
future
and preferably by negotiation" with Israel. The wording went beyond a
landmark declaration made in Berlin in March 1999 that said the EU
"declares its readiness to consider the recognition of a Palestinian
state
in due course."

The Palestinian planning minister, Nabil Shaath, speaking for Arab
states
in the 27-nation Euromed forum, welcomed the change. But Mr. Shaath
and
other Arab ministers criticized Europe for failing to condemn
Israel's
use
of military force. Mr. Shaath said Europe had espoused a "pernicious
doctrine of neutrality" that established a moral equivalence between
"the
victim and the victimiser, between the occupier and the occupied."

The Egyptian foreign minister, Amr Moussa, said Arab countries wanted
Europe to play a more assertive role in the Middle East peace
process."It
has been our policy all along that Europe should be a full partner in
the
peace process, but that doesn't mean raising the flag and smiling." He
said the French statement overall did not reflect Arab views and
implied
that it had been toned down to please Israel, whose foreign minister,
Shlomo Ben- Ami, took part in the meeting. "I want you to know that
the
vast majority was on one side and the minority, perhaps a minority of
one,
was on the other side," Mr. Moussa said. (Int'l Herald Tribune)

CHRISTIAN BECOMES "MARTYR" FOR PALESTINE

Church bells tolled in the Palestinian village of Beit Jala yesterday
for
the funeral of the first foreigner to die in 7 weeks of violence, a
German
blown apart by an Israeli missile. Harry Fischer, a physiotherapist
married to a Palestinian for 20 years, was killed late on Wednesday
night
after he left his home to help neighbours whose house was burning,
according to residents. The Palestinian bishop of the Lutheran
congregation, Munib Younan, declared Mr Fischer "a martyr of
Palestine
and
of the Lutheran Church". "Harry Fischer came from Germany and lived 20
years with us. He came here to serve humanity. What wrong did he do
that
he deserved to be killed?"

Mr Fischer was the first Christian among more than 200 victims on the
Palestinian side to die during the uprising, and the churches seized
the
opportunity to show that they were as patriotic as the Muslims. His
body,
wrapped in German and Palestinian flags and wearing a keffiyeh, was
paraded in an open coffin through Virgin Mary Street to the Lutheran
church in Beit Jala. The family had given permission for him to be
given a
full-scale patriotic funeral, though no flags or political symbols
were
allowed in the small, stone church.

As Mr Fischer's body was carried away from the church, youths vowed to
avenge his death by attacks on the Jerusalem suburb of Gilo. One said:
"His blood will pour into the veins of the uprising." The people of
Gilo
are demanding harsher retaliation, accusing Ehud Barak of "tying the
hands
of the army". Some want the army to move in and occupy Beit Jala, as
they
tried to do in Beirut 18 years ago. During the gun battle the
Right-wing
former prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, toured the front line and
was
greeted as a saviour. (The London Telegraph)

BLAZING MIR'S RETURN TRIP COULD WIPE OUT SYDNEY

The dilapidated and unstable Mir space station will return to Earth in
February, Moscow announced yesterday. But the Russian Aerospace Agency
admitted that instead of plunging into the sea as planned, it could
crash
on to a city. Space engineers hope that the ageing 130-tonne capsule
will
fall safely into the Pacific about 1,000 miles off Australia. As it
hurtles round the Earth at supersonic speed, its trajectory could be
thrown off course by even a tiny miscalculation, possibly sending the
blazing spacecraft on a catastrophic course into the heart of Sydney
or
another population centre.

Announcing the long-awaited end to what is nevertheless Russia's
most
successful spacecraft, Yuri Koptev, the agency's director, said
that
Mir
would be shut down in phases. One tanker rocket to supply fuel has
already
been sent up to stop it falling out of orbit next month, and in
January
another will take up the final fuel supply. Mr Koptev said, though,
that
the 14-year- old spacecraft's systems could fail at any time.
Russia
has
to tell any country over which the spacecraft might pass what will
happen.
Much of Mir, orbiting 235 miles above the Earth, is expected to burn
up on
re-entry. Large elements, including the main frames, rocket engines
and
some of the big tanks, will fall to Earth. Debris could be scattered
over
an area up to 6,250 miles by 125 miles. (The London Times)

MICHAEL TURNER

(mykelturner@airmail.net)

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To: bprlist@egroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Boy compensated for being born
From: research-bpr@philologos.org
Date: Sat, 18 Nov 2000 17:49:14 -0000

Boy compensated for being born

The couple say they would have considered abortion

A severely disabled French boy has won a landmark case against medical
authorities for allowing him to be born rather than aborted. Nicolas
Perruche was born deaf, part-blind and with mental disabilities in
1983
after a doctor and a medical laboratory failed to realise that his
mother
had caught rubella, also called German measles, during her pregnancy.

      Mistakes committed by the doctors and the laboratory prevented
(Mrs
Perruche) from exercising her choice to end the pregnancy

      Cour de Cassation decision
His parents, Josette and Christian Perruche, said the failure to
diagnose
the disease damaged their child in the womb and stopped them from
opting
for abortion.

The courts had already decided doctors were at fault. Medical staff
incorrectly believed that she had already been immunised against
rubella.

Now the parents have won a fresh appeal for compensation on the
grounds
that doctors and the medical laboratory should have prevented the
birth.

Moral question

The Cour de Cassation said in its decision: "Since mistakes committed
by
the doctors and the laboratory while carrying out their contract with
Mrs
Perruche prevented her from exercising her choice to end the pregnancy
to
avoid the birth of a handicapped child, the latter can ask for
compensation for damages resulting from this handicap."

      To be alive cannot be regarded as the result of a fault

      Families campaigner Catherine Fabre

Our correspondent James Coomerasamy says that while few criticise
their
desire to ensure their son has adequate financial help, many in France
are
concerened about the moral questions which the case has raised.

"Would my son really have wanted to live if he'd known he had all
these
disabilities?" asked Christian. "That's the question I'm posing."

Before Friday's ruling, Catherine Fabre, who is with the Federation of
French Families, said: "It is terrible for those people to have to
face
those sort of problems but we cannot approve the idea of claiming for
compensation for being alive.

Serious consequences

"First, you never know what the life of this little boy is and,
second, to
be alive cannot be regarded as the result of a fault, whatever it is,"
Ms
Fabre said

The medical profession has also been watching the case with great
concern.

Segolene Ayme, a geneticist who works closely with couples with
congenital
illnesses, said before the verdict was announced that a victory for
the
couple could have serious consequences.

"This will push my colleagues to decide more often to terminate
pregnancies when they are unsure about the health status of the child.
And
this is a very common situation," she said.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_1028000/1028648.s
tm

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To: bprlist@egroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Annan May Put Cops on Mideast Panel
From: research-bpr@philologos.org
Date: Sat, 18 Nov 2000 17:49:38 -0000

Annan May Put Cops on Mideast Panel

By EDITH M. LEDERER
.c The Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is considering
including police and military experts on the fact-finding commission
that
will investigate the recent Israeli-Palestinian violence, U.N.
officials
say.

Palestinian leaders would like the United Nations to go farther,
sending
an international observer force to try to keep the peace in the
region.
But Israel objects, and while Annan mediates between the sides, he is
mulling whether putting 30 to 40 police and military experts on the
fact-finding commission would be the fastest way to help stop the
bloodshed.

The idea was floated Friday as fighting continued in the Middle East.
Six
people died, raising the death toll to 230 - most of them Palestinian
- in
more than seven weeks of fighting.

Annan has said repeatedly that his primary concern is to bring a quick
end
to the worst Palestinian-Israeli fighting in decades. He has also said
that any U.N. force needs the consent of Israel - a view backed by the
United States, France, Britain and Canada.

At the United Nations on Friday, the Security Council asked Annan to
consult with Israel and the Palestinians in the coming days on the
possibility of deploying U.N. observers in the West Bank and Gaza
Strip.
The secretary-general agreed, but only on the condition that he would
have
the flexibility to explore options that both sides can accept, Western
diplomats said.

Even if Annan can broker an agreement between the Israelis and
Palestinians on some kind of observer force, it will take months to
find
the 2,000 troops and get them into the field.

With any move toward a U.N. force stalled for the moment, talk turned
to
the fact-finding commission, which is supposed to investigate the
causes
of the recent violence.

The Israelis and Palestinians agreed to the fact-finding inquiry under
U.S. auspices at an emergency summit last month in Sharm el-Sheik,
Egypt.
The commission is to be led by former U.S. Senate Majority leader
George
Mitchell, a longtime key player in Northern Ireland peace
negotiations.

Annan called for the commission to get on the ground quickly, which
would
calm the atmosphere - a call backed by Britain, France and other
council
members, Western diplomats said. Including police and military experts
who
could talk to their Israeli and Palestinian counterparts would be an
important move to de-escalate the violence, U.N. officials said.

Annan scheduled a late Sunday meeting with Mitchell, U.N. spokesman
Fred
Eckhard said. Annan also scheduled separate Monday meetings with
Israeli
U.N. Ambassador Yehuda Lancry and the Palestinian U.N. observer,
Nasser
Al-Kidwa.

Earlier Friday, the Palestinians distributed a draft resolution
calling
for 2,000 unarmed U.N. military observers to help provide safety and
security for Palestinian civilians caught up in the violence. Al-Kidwa
said they would like a vote on the draft resolution ``as soon as
possible,'' preferably by Nov. 23, because ``the situation on the
ground
requires speedy action.''

Israel reiterated its objection to any international involvement. It
insisted on direct negotiations, which have been the foundation of its
past peace agreements.

In Jerusalem on Friday, Arafat ordered Palestinian gunmen to stop
shooting
at Israelis from areas under his control.

``We are trying our best to get our people to stop shooting'' from
Palestinian-controlled areas, Arafat said. ``There are orders from the
Palestinian security council to stop shooting.''

The move appeared to be an effort to halt return fire that could hurt
Palestinian civilians. It was not clear whether it was a step toward a
full-fledged truce that would bring an end to nearly two months of
violence.

Responding to Arafat's call, Barak said ``words are not enough.''

Shortly after Arafat's statement, gunfire came from the
Palestinian-controlled town of Ramallah in the West Bank, directed at
nearby Israeli positions. An Israeli tank shelled an empty building.
The
Voice of Palestine radio said there were no injuries.

Among the six deaths Friday was a Palestinian killed in a clash near
the
West Bank city of Qalqilya. Elsewhere, two Palestinian teen-agers were
killed during other West Bank clashes, Israeli commandos shot and
killed
two Palestinian policemen near Jericho and a 17-year-old was shot to
death
during fighting in the southern Gaza Strip.

AP-NY-11-18-00 0133EST

http://www.ap.org/

via: Third_Watch@egroups.com

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========
To: bprlist@egroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Three hour nuclear explosion on neutron star
From: research-bpr@philologos.org
Date: Sat, 18 Nov 2000 17:50:22 -0000

Bill Steigerwald
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. November 8,
2000
(Phone: 301/286-5017)

Release No. 00-131

Remarkable Three-Hour Nuclear Explosion on Neutron Star Details
Unimagined Fury

As if daily nuclear explosions on neutron stars releasing more energy
in
10 seconds than the Sun does in a week weren't fantastic enough, a
NASA
astronomer observed a far more powerful blast lasting 1,000 times
longer.

Dr. Tod Strohmayer of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt,
Md., observed a three-hour burst on a neutron star 20,000 light years
from
Earth.

The burst was likely caused by over a year's worth of stored carbon --
the
nuclear ash from daily helium-fueled explosions -- packed so tightly
below
the neutron star surface that it finally fused and exploded.

Dr. Strohmayer's results, which may mark the first observation of a
carbon-fueled thermonuclear explosion on a neutron star, are presented
today at the meeting of the High Energy Astrophysics Division of the
American Astronomical Society in Honolulu, Hawaii.

"This was quite a find," said Dr. Strohmayer. "We had suspected that
such an explosion could exist; but because they are so rare, we didn't
know if we could actually observe one. Such a long burst -- with a
rich
assortment of X-ray data -- provides new insights into the physics of
neutron stars and thermonuclear explosions, particularly about what is
happening underneath the surface."

A neutron star is the skeletal remains of a star once several times
more
massive than the Sun that exhausted its nuclear fuel and subsequently
exploded its outer shell. The remaining core, still possessing about a
Sun's worth of mass, collapses to a sphere no larger than Honolulu,
about
7 miles in diameter.

Typical neutron star bursts last about 10 seconds, a thousand times
shorter and 500-1,000 times less energetic than this burst in binary
star
system 4U 1820-30, observed with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer. The
three-hour burst from the tiny neutron star released 20 times more
energy
than the Sun does in a year. Put another way, this three-hour burst
from a
7-mile-wide neutron star released more than a trillion times the
amount of
energy used by the entire United States in 1999. Also, the typical
10-second bursts on neutron stars release about a billion times more
energy than the 1999 U.S. consumption.

The neutron star in 4U 1820-30 is in tight orbit with a low-mass dwarf
star composed of mostly helium. Their orbital period of 11 minutes is
the
shortest known of any binary system. In fact, the stars are so close
that
the orbit would easily fit inside the Sun. The neutron star's strong
gravitational field attracts gas from the companion star. This gas
eventually rains down upon the surface of a neutron star, a journey
visible in many forms of light, particularly X rays.

When enough gas builds up on the neutron star surface -- in the case,
helium gas -- the increased pressure raises the temperature and
initiates
helium fusion, a nuclear reaction that manifests itself as an X-ray
burst.
X-ray bursts often erupt on neutron stars in binary systems several
times
a day.

Dr. Strohmayer said an "ordinary" burst may have triggered the much
longer one. The data reveal that there was a burst that lasted about
10
seconds before fading. Then, a few seconds later, the longer burst
ignited
... and kept on going.

The three-hour nuclear inferno was likely fueled by carbon, the ashes
of
helium fusion, Dr. Strohmayer said.

"Over the course of a year or two, more and more helium rains down
upon
the neutron star," said Dr. Strohmayer. "This helium ignites and
produces
carbon. The carbon ash builds up under layers of new helium and other
gaseous metals. When enough carbon builds up -- and the pressure
raises
the temperature to many times that of our Sun's core -- carbon will
begin
to fuse."

Dr. Strohmayer estimated that it would take about a billion trillion
pounds of carbon and a temperature of a billion degrees to create the
three-hour explosion on this particular neutron star. At the rate at
which
material is crashing down on the star's surface, Dr. Strohmayer
estimated
that it would take about 1 to 2 years for that much carbon to build
up.
The amount of carbon consumed in the explosion was about mass of Pluto
or
1/10th the total mass of the Moon.

The explosion itself is interesting to scientists because (1) it
lasted so
long, providing plenty of X-ray photons to analyze, and (2) it showed
such
unique fluctuations or patterns during those three hours, providing
the
meat for in-depth analysis of the physics of neutron stars, accretion,
and
thermonuclear reactions.

Little is known about the interior of neutron stars, as opposed to
hydrogen-burning stars, such as the Sun. Their densities are far
greater
than anything that can be reproduced in a laboratory. Dr. Strohmayer
said
that scientists could use data from carbon-fueled explosions, like the
one
observed by the Rossi Explorer, to probe beneath the neutron star
surface.
Two key interests are determining the neutron star's equation of
state, or
how compressible the material is, and also understanding the physics
of
matter at the Universe's most extreme density and gravity.

"With the Rossi Explorer, we are now not only seeing the brilliant
activity on the surface of a neutron star, we are also seeing what
goes on
underneath," said Dr. Jean Swank of NASA Goddard, Project Scientist
for
the Rossi Explorer. "This recent observation provides information from
much deeper under the surface than we have been getting with smaller
bursts, where the accreting gas is being converted into neutron star
material."

The Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer is the result of a NASA collaboration
with
Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of California,
San
Diego, assembled and operated by NASA Goddard. Launched in 1995, The
Rossi
Explorer is a unique type of X-ray observatory that measures the rapid
fluctuation of X-ray activity in pulsars and neutron stars, magnetars,
black holes and active galactic nuclei. The Rossi Explorer looks for
changes in X-ray patterns over timescales as short as a millisecond,
which
can reveal the physics of how matter is behaving under the force of
extreme gravity. As such, the Rossi Explorer can test the Theory of
General Relativity and laws of physics in ways not possible in Earth-
bound laboratories.

For a light curve of the three-hour burst and a neutron star image,
refer to:

     http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/GSFC/SpaceSci/structure/rxte3hrnuke.htm

via: transhumantech@egroups.com

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========
To: bprlist@egroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] 'Spyware Control Act'
From: research-bpr@philologos.org
Date: Sat, 18 Nov 2000 17:50:54 -0000

'Spyware Control Act'
Sen. Edwards Intro's 'Spyware Control Act'
By Brian Krebs, Newsbytes
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A.,
09 Oct 2000, 3:29 PM CST

Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., introduced legislation on Friday that would
force software manufacturers to notify consumers when their products
include "spyware," bits of code that surreptitiously transmit
information
about the user's Web surfing habits back to the software company.

"I have been closely following the privacy debate for some time now,
and I
am struck by how often I discover new ways in which our privacy is
being
eroded," Edwards said Friday in a speech introducing his bill.
"Spyware is
among the more startling examples of how this erosion is occurring."

Under S. 3180, the "Spyware Control and Privacy Protection Act,"
manufacturers that build spyware into their products must give
consumers clear and conspicuous notice - at the time of installation -
that the software contains spyware. Such a notice would describe what
information would be collected and to whom it would be sent. The
spyware
would then be forced to lie dormant unless the consumer chooses to
enable
it.

Edwards' bill comes at a time when many producers of free software -
called "freeware" - are taking heat for building tiny spyware programs
into their products. Software manufacturers argue that the programs
are
geared only at improving advertising returns, and many freeware
titles,
including RealDownload, Intuit's Quicken, Netscape's AOL Smart
Download,
and NetZip's Download Demon - now include advertisements within their
program's window.

Edwards said that in addition to notice and choice, his bill would
give consumers the benefit of the remaining two "Fair Information
Practices" endorsed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC): Access and
Security. Under S. 3180, software users would have the ability to find
out
what information has been collected about them and to correct any
errors.

The bill also would force software manufacturers to ensure that the
information gleaned from spyware products was properly encrypted and
adequately insulated from malicious hackers.

Edwards said his bill contains some "common sense exceptions" to the
notice and consent requirements. S. 3180 would exempt spyware used to
gather information that would only be used to provide technical
support
for the software, or to determine if a given user is a licensed user
of
the product. The notice and choice provisions would also be waived for
employers using spyware to monitor Internet usage by their employees.

S. 3180 also gives users a private right of action to sue a software
maker
that violates its own policy. Under Edwards' bill, consumers could
seek
redress of up to $500,000 per violation.

http://grc.com/spywarelegislation.htm

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To: bprlist@egroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] US Islamic Holiday Stamp
From: research-bpr@philologos.org
Date: Sat, 18 Nov 2000 18:02:38 -0000

"Three holidays will be marked with stamps in 2001: Thanksgiving, the
Islamic holidays Eid and Christmas.

Eid al Fitr marks the end of the fast for Ramadan, while Eid al Adha
is called the Holiday of the Hajj, the time when Muslims visit Mecca."

Monday November 13 9:00 AM ET
Postal Service Announces New Stamps
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20001113/pl/stamps_2001_1.html

Photo
Script says "May your holiday be blessed."
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/p/ap/20001113/us/stamps.html

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