To: bprlist@egroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Daily World Affairs Report items (1/18/01)
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2001 12:09:04 -0500
CARDINAL MARTINI WANTS MORE COLLEGIALITY
In a long and provocative interview with the Italian daily Corriere della
Sera, Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini has called for "more concrete forms of
collegiality" within the Church. The Milan prelate stopped just short of
calling for a Third Vatican Council. Responding to the Pope's apostolic
letter Novo Millenio Ineunte, Cardinal Martini stressed John Paul's call for
greater "communion" within the Church. This, the cardinal said, would
require a greater sharing of power among the bishops of the Church. In
October 1999, during the Synod of Bishops for Europe, Cardinal Martini
had spoken of "a more universal instrument" to express collegiality within
the Church.
Many observers had seen his remarks as a call for a Third Vatican Council.
While he said there had been some "confusion" about those remarks, the
cardinal told Corriere della Sera, "I have never excluded the possibility of a
new council." The Milan prelate went on to say that the "emerging
problems" that face the Church might be reason for a new worldwide
council. Because of the practical problems involved in convening an
ecumenical council, Cardinal Martini suggested that it might be easier to
bring together "regional convocations" prior to the "plenary convocation" of
the world's bishops. And he said that Orthodox and Protestant
representatives should participate in such a council "in one way or another."
Cardinal Martini, who is frequently identified as the most identifiable
"liberal" leader within the College of Cardinals, said nothing during his
interview with Corriere della Sera to combat that reputation. He said that all
forms of "triumphalism" should be excluded from the Jubilee. He expressed
regret that the publication of the Vatican document Dominus Jesus had "not
been well received, and created some distress." And he argued that the
Church must engage in "dialogue" with scientists involved in genetic
manipulation, using "rational and convincing arguments" rather than issuing
condemnations which "are not sufficient, and even produce the opposite
effect." (Catholic World News)
DRESDNER TO QUIT COMMERCIAL BANKING OUTSIDE
EUROPE
Dresdner Bank AG will cease commercial banking outside Europe and take
a E200mn ($188mn) charge to pay for shutting offices and eliminating 600
jobs. The chief executive of Germany's 3rd-largest bank, Bernd Fahrholz,
has been shutting less profitable units and trying to revive Dresdner's
investment bank since taking over in April as merger attempts with German
rivals Deutsche Bank AG and Commerzbank AG failed.
Dresdner said Wednesday it would stop making loans in the United States
to everyone but investment-banking clients. It will close offices in Canada,
Thailand and India and reduce its business in China and Australia. Mr.
Fahrholz disclosed the plan to shut the commercial lending business in May
without providing details. He also said Dresdner aimed to slash 5,000 jobs,
close 300 bank branches in Germany and reduce business outside Europe to
save E500mn a year. Dresdner already has taken a E330mn restructuring
charge. (Int'l Herald Tribune)
GERMANS ATTEMPT TO SEIZE POWER IN BRITAIN
E.ON is awash with euros, and it's dying to spend them. This German
electricity company with a made-up name (the branding consultants have
infiltrated Germany too) went to France, but received the response they
manage with such elegance over there. Smarting from its rebuff by Suez
Lyonnaise des Eaux, the giant has smelled the blood of an Englishman and
gone for PowerGen. Unfortunately, these German men of power have
more money (£16bn) than sense; the unfortunate Otto Majewski,
deputy chief executive, denied takeover talks on Tuesday, repeating a
mistake which earned his company an SEC fine just 18 months ago.
Yesterday the company confirmed the market rumours and admitted the
approach.
The talks, said PowerGen, were at a preliminary stage. They can say that
again: the all-powerful Ed Wallis, both chairman and chief executive of the
company, has been soaking up the sun in the Virgin Islands, and only
returns to his desk this morning. So far, this offensive doesn't look like the
last German campaign, when RWE took out Thames Water in just a week,
by sheer weight of financial ordnance. Mr Wallis knows a bit about German
utilities - he was on RWE's economic advisory board for 4 years. He is
fiercely independent, and it would take a bid on the RWE scale of
generosity to persuade him to surrender. (The London Telegraph -
Commentary)
J.P. MORGAN CHASE FALLS 65%, G.M. BY 51%
JP Morgan Chase, the investment bank created by Chase Manhattan's
$35bn takeover of JP Morgan 2 weeks ago, got off to a sticky start
yesterday when it announced a 65% drop in 4th-quarter profits. The decline
in operating earnings to $763mn from a pro-forma $2.18bn was worse than
Wall Street expectations, which had already been lowered by profits
warnings from the 2 banks last month. It was blamed on a $92mn
investment loss, a 24% increase in operating expenses to $5.74bn and a
slump in trading revenues from $1.48bn to $1.27bn. Operating revenues fell
12% to $7.57bn.
Elsewhere, General Motors announced a 51% drop in underlying 4th-
quarter profits to $609mn, driven by a slowdown in America and heavy
losses in Europe and Asia. GM Europe plunged to a $463mn loss from a
$30mn profit in the same period of 1999. The company announced the
closure of its Luton car assembly plant last month and yesterday it said
Robert Hendry, head of Germany's Adam Opel unit, had resigned. (The
London Telegraph)
AN UNEXPECTED LOSS IN CLEANUP AT BANK ONE
Bank One Corp. reported an unexpected 4th quarter loss Wednesday of
$512mn as it spent more to cover bad loans, cut jobs and improve
efficiency. Bank One's loss contrasted with net income of $411mn, or 36
cents, in the like period in 1999. Jamie Dimon, the company's chief
executive for the past 10 months, raised pretax loan-loss reserves by $1bn
and took pretax charges of $575mn to clean up the Chicago-based bank,
which stumbled in 1999 as it lost credit card customers. "This is probably
our last messy quarter." The 4th-quarter loss surprised investors, however.
"Very few expected it would be as bad as it ended up being," said James
Ellman, a fund manager at Merrill Lynch Investment Managers. (Int'l
Herald Tribune)
SADDAM: ALLAH GRANTED IRAQ VICTORY IN GULF WAR
Saddam Hussein yesterday claimed the mantle of Islamic heroes past,
marking the 10th anniversary of the Gulf war by declaring that Allah had
granted Iraq victory over America and its allies. Saddam's appeal to Arab
and Muslim sentiment reached a bizarre new extreme with an apocalyptic
speech describing the war as a kind of prelude to the battle of the End of
Days. His address was long on rhetoric and short on substance. It made no
mention of how he intends to lead Iraq out of sanctions.
Saddam did not repeat the conciliatory signals to the US made a day earlier
by Tariq Aziz, the deputy Prime Minister, who said Iraq was ready for a
dialogue with Washington, that it would reciprocate any positive gestures,
and that Baghdad did not threaten US interests. Saddam chose instead to
cast himself in the role of a divinely-inspired visionary, above everyday
politics. He compared his army to the Companions of the Prophet
Muhammad. His soldiers, he said, fought like an exploding volcano, a
roaring ocean, the Tigris in full flood and a lion defending its cubs.
A few hours earlier, about 1,000 Iraqis were bused to a rally in the centre
of Baghdad roughly the time when Allied aircraft dropped their first bombs
in 1991. Gathered outside the offices of the UN representative in Iraq, the
demonstrators protested against the sanctions, burned American flags and
chanted, "Down, down, USA" and "Down, down, British crown". (The
London Telegraph)
* Temperate in comparison to some of this other public statements - in the
past he urged the overthrow of "throne dwarves" in other Arab nations -
Mr. Saddam's remarks come at a time of strong oil prices and steady
political rehabilitation. Apparently reacting to rumors that he is dying of
cancer or has suffered a stroke, Iraqi television has been frequently
replaying appearances of Mr. Saddam meeting with his cabinet or firing one
handed rifle shots at a military parade.
With Gulf War memories of his decision to fire Scud missiles at Israel still
lingering, Mr. Saddam is hailed today as a hero by Palestinians engaged in
new violence with the Jewish state. Still, Mr. Saddam remains estranged
from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, which are still wary of Baghdad's repeated
threats and unrepentant reading of history. The Iraqi deputy prime minister,
Tariq Aziz, said this week that Kuwait "got what it deserved" in 1990
because it was undermining Iraq's oil prices and stealing Iraqi oil by drilling
beneath the border.
The president's son Uday Hussein, a member of Parliament, suggested this
week that parliamentary maps be modified to include Kuwait "as part of
larger Iraq." But Mr. Saddam's isolation from other Arab states is easing.
The Iraqi vice president, Taha Yassin Ramadan, is in Egypt this week to
sign a free trade agreement. And Iraq has been working with Syria, an
ideological foe, on the restoration of an oil pipeline that could help Iraq
further skirt an international embargo.
The situation is a profound reversal for a man whose regime was teetering
a decade ago. Sticking to their announced intention of only driving Iraq from
Kuwait, allied forces halted their advance outside Baghdad, and the war
ended with the regime still in power. Mr. Saddam was faced almost
immediately with a political uprising among the country's Shiite Muslim
majority, with economic sanctions so restrictive that they helped contribute
to large-scale malnutrition and disease, and with the task of rebuilding
power plants, bridges, roads and other infrastructure destroyed by the war.
Yet Mr. Saddam has survived and declared in his speech: "Iraq has
triumphed over the enemies. It will triumph in all the remaining rounds."
(Int'l Herald Tribune)
BUSH TO ADD ECONOMIST TO NATIONAL SECURITY STAFF
President-elect George W. Bush plans a major change in his National
Security Council, adding economics experts to involve it far more in the
economics changes that have caused upheaval around the world. Mr. Bush,
who described his plans on a hike on his ranch in Texas, said he had asked
his national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, and his chief economic
adviser, Lawrence Lindsey, to "share a desk" that would work to coordinate
the United States' foreign policy objectives with its economics strategy.
"It's a way to make sure the economic people don't run off with foreign
policy and vice versa," Mr. Bush said, apparently referring to the major role
the Treasury Department has had over the last 8 years in setting policy
toward China, Japan and, to a lesser degree, Russia. "Globalization has
altered the dynamics in the White House, as well as between the White
House and the Treasury. We have to respond to that."
In an interview Monday from her home in California, Ms. Rice said that she
and Mr. Lindsey would jointly run a staff that would deal with international
economic policy and coordinated responses to the types of crises that have
occurred in Mexico, Asia and Russia, crises that have frequently brought
down governments. The staff would be "physically located within the NSC
offices," she said, but would report both to her and Mr. Lindsey.
Mr. Bush's plan appears to be an effort to build upon, but also substantially
alter, President Clinton's crack at the same problem. In 1993, he created
the National Economic Council, a White House unit that he initially
described as an equivalent, and a counterweight, to the long-established
National Security Council. The economics council became a strong force in
developing domestic economic policy and was particularly powerful under
its first chairman, Robert Rubin, but in size, budget and influence, it never
grew to rival the National Security Council.
A version of the economics council will still exist, and Mr. Lindsey will run
it. But international economic issues will belong to a separate staff, run by a
deputy assistant to the president, reporting to the heads of both councils.
"International economic issues are still not as integrated as they should be in
the national security process," Ms. Rice said Monday. "So we are going to
try to do this in as seamless a way as possible. We are still thinking through
the details."
Before Mr. Clinton took office, other administrations talked about making
the national security directorates more savvy about economic forces. But
that effort was often halfhearted, and forgotten as soon as a military crisis
arose that focused attention elsewhere. The pressure has grown, however,
as it has become obvious that the Central Intelligence Agency and the State
Department have been slow to reorient themselves toward the challenges
of economic interdependence - and slow to hire or promote staff members
with economics skills.
The CIA was widely criticized for having failed to identify the internal
economic rot that contributed to the breakup of the Soviet Union in the
administration of Mr. Bush's father. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, senior
officials of the agency talked a great deal about reorienting their mission to
protecting America's economic lead, and they devoted considerable
resources to studies of how foreign governments use under-the-table
payments to steal business from U.S. companies.
The intelligence officials also provided more resources to U.S. trade
negotiators, at one point going as far as listening in on the telephone
conversations of Japan's minister of international trade and industry during
tense negotiations in 1995 over American access to the Japanese
automobile market.
The US has repeatedly been taken by surprise by economic crises that
created political risks. The Mexican currency crisis crept up unnoticed in
Washington, and in 1997 the CIA and the State Department's economics
officers failed to detect early signs of the currency crisis in Asia that
ultimately spread to Indonesia and brought down President Suharto.
Investors with billions of dollars at stake in Mexico and Asia missed the
same signals. (Int'l Herald Tribune)
BOMBSHELL: JESSE JACKSON LOVE CHILD; MISTRESS PAID IN
CASH
Spiritual adviser to President Clinton Reverend Jesse Jackson took his
pregnant mistress to an Oval Office meeting at the height of the Lewinsky
Impeachment saga, a stunning new report claims. Washington will soon be
jolted and storm clouds will form over Inauguration Weekend after a
NATIONAL ENQUIRER expose alleges Jesse Jackson fathered a
daughter conceived out of wedlock by a part-time RAINBOW
COALITION staffer who was given $40,000 to relocate to Los Angeles
where she now lives in $365,000 multi-bedroom spread and receives a
$10,000 a month stipend from Jackson, it is alleged.
The NEW YORK POST is rushing to splash the story in fresh editions,
according to newspaper sources. "JESSE JACKSON'S LOVE CHILD" --
the ENQUIRER is planning to blare in its Page One splash of its January
30 edition. "A $40,000 moving expense is outrageous," one RAINBOW
COALITION source tells the ENQUIRER. The ENQUIRER names the
mother, aged 39. It does not name the young miss, aged 2.
Clinton administration officials were bracing for yet another photograph,
obtained by the ENQUIRER, which pictures Jesse Jackson, the pregnant
mistress, President Bill Clinton, and RAINBOW COALITION executives
smiling in the Oval Office. The picture was taken on December 3, 1998 --
at the height of the Clinton sex scandal. "Here was Rev. Jackson
counseling Bill Clinton on his infidelity and Jackson's pregnant mistress was
smiling along?" asked a publishing source. (Drudge Report)
MICHAEL TURNER
(mykelturner@airmail.net)
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To: bprlist@egroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] (Fwd) Mitchell Committee delays arrival
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Thu, 18 Jan 2001 09:45:09 -0500
------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date sent: Thu, 18 Jan 2001 05:17:22 -0500
From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: Mitchell Committee delays arrival
until after elections
Mitchell Committee delays arrival until after elections
Aaron Lerner Date: 18 January 2001
Israel Radio's senior diplomatic correspondent Yoni Ben Menachem
reported on the noon news program today that the Mitchell Committee
has postponed its arrival in Israel until after the February 6
elections.
The Mitchell Committee, an international fact-finding committee set
up at Arafat's request to investigate the violence in the
territories, became engulfed in controversy after its technical staff
failed to coordinate a visit to the Temple Mount with Jerusalem.
The team visited the Mount on Saturday without even informing Israel,
and no Israeli official was present. The tour was conducted entirely
by the Palestinian waqf.
Israel's Foreign Ministry protested the incident and Israeli
officials are considering halting all cooperation with the committee.
Ben Menachem also reports that the size of the technical staff now in
Israel has been significantly reduced.
Dr. Aaron Lerner, Director
IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis)
(mail POB 982 Kfar Sava)
Tel 972-9-7604719/Fax 972-3-5480092
INTERNET ADDRESS: imra@netvision.net.il
pager 03-6750750 subscriber 4811
Website: http://www.imra.org.il
--------------------------------------------
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To: bprlist@egroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] (Fwd) Ha'aretz: Jordanian-Palestinian tension
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Thu, 18 Jan 2001 09:45:09 -0500
------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date sent: Thu, 18 Jan 2001 02:10:19 -0500
From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: Ha'aretz: Jordanian-Palestinian tension
Ha'aretz: Jordanian-Palestinian tension
For some, the Intifada is an Israeli conspiracy against Jordan
By Zvi Bar'el Ha'aretz 18 January 2001
"There's no need to take the soccer games so seriously. People shout all
kinds of things which they don't mean. They get excited and overwrought, the
defeat is disappointing, and then all kinds of nonsense is spoken," says a
Jordanian news commentator.He was referring to the public and parliamentary
debate that followed increasingly frequent incidents of Jordanian soccer
fans taking advantage of the atmosphere in the football stadium in order to
express their opinions of the Palestinians in general, and particularly of
the Intifada and its victims. This expression of opinion included curses
against the Palestinians, and especially against the mothers who gave birth
to them. Such verbal altercations between native Jordanians and Jordanians
of Palestinian origin, based on national differences, are of concern to the
Jordanian government which, contrary to the Jordanian commentator, is
determined to try and stop what it considers a dangerous deterioration in
the relations between Palestinians and Jordanians in Jordan.
The dispute between Jordanians and Palestinians is not a new one. It is fed
by the historical grievances that are a legacy of the annexation of the West
Bank to Jordan and the events of Black September. But from the time when the
late King Hussein decided to remove the Jordanian political patronage, which
he had previously offered the Palestinians, and severed Jordan even from its
historical presence in Jerusalem, there was no longer any immediate excuse
for political confrontation between the Palestinian leadership and Jordan.
King Abdullah reinforced his father's approach when he gave his wholehearted
support to the founding of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem
as its capital, and no longer mentioned the special connection Jordan has in
Jerusalem, a connection which is anchored in a special letter that
accompanies the peace agreements between Jordan and Israel.
But the political positions of the government are not automatically adopted
by the public. When the king speaks, for example, about the fact that the
Jordanians, both the original ones and those of Palestinian origin, are one
family united under the Jordanian flag, there are those who react cynically.
"We are one family, but with many problems of blood revenge," as a Jordanian
member of parliament once said after an impressive speech by Abdullah on the
subject of national unity.
The question of national unity has become increasingly fraught since the
outbreak of the Intifada. After Jordanian security forces intervened to
prevent mass demonstrations and the trip to the bridge organized by the
heads of the trade unions, the Jordanian Information Ministry widely
publicized the number of assemblies which the Jordanian government had
allowed, in order to prove its identification with the Intifada. But
immediately afterward, Jordanian newspaper columnists did not hesitate to
point out that "the Intifada is there, and not here," and that Jordan must
prevent a situation in which identification with the Intifada causes
suffering to the Jordanians, dismantling of their cars or smashing of
windows.
In the past two weeks, those in Jordan who consider the Intifada a danger
have become increasingly vocal. This is not the opinion of the majority, but
the marginal engaged in the debate are managing to make enough noise to
force the government and the king to react with determination. At one of the
discussions in the Jordanian parliament, one of the MPs, Ahmed al-Abadi, who
represents the Abad tribe, described the Hamas as representatives of the
Israeli Mossad, whose purpose in Jordan is to incite riots. He also
characterized the Palestinian Intifada as an Israeli conspiracy designed to
export the Intifada to Jordan in order to undermine its government; this
would enable Israel to implement the ideas of Likud candidate Ariel Sharon,
who considers Jordan the alternate homeland of the Palestinians.
True to his belief, Abadi demanded that the Jordanian information minister
order Jordanian television to cease covering events in the territories and
interviewing Palestinian leaders, and suggested that they cover instead the
"Intifada of the hungry," those Jordanians who, he says, live in harsh
conditions in the south of Jordan.
In interviews and in speeches, Abadi explains to anyone who is interested,
the heavy damage caused to Jordan by the Intifada. He estimates that the
monetary damage has so far reached about $100 million, including the loss of
income from tourism, the loss of the export market to the territories, and
direct damage to property inside Jordan. Abadi estimates that if the
Intifada continues, the monetary damage to Jordan is likely to reach about
$450 million.
These words gave rise to excoriation by other members of parliament, and
especially by his rival, Halil Atia, who cast doubt on "Abadi's Jordanian
credentials." Atia reminded the public of Abadi's relations with Israel and
Israelis, and did not forget to mention his visits to Israel.
These arguments do not end with verbal exchanges in parliament, but are also
joined by trade union activists, journalists and businessmen, some of whom
argue in closed circles, while others express their opinions in articles or
in letters to the editor. "Not everyone agrees with Abadi's ideas, and his
insinuations that this is a conspiracy hatched by Israel," says a Jordanian
journalist. "But there is definitely a fundamental fear of the consequences
of the Intifada on the social fabric in Jordan. The king's words about
national unity in Jordan are no longer a sociological slogan, but almost a
security need. The king had good reason for declaring unequivocally that he
would use an iron hand against anyone trying to damage our national unity."
The Jordanian opposition claims that many of the soccer fans who were caught
shouting in favor of the Intifada were detained for questioning, and that
some are still under arrest, whereas some of those who cursed the
Palestinians are walking around free. Prime Minister Ali Abu Al-Ragheb had
to declare three times that Jordan will not agree to absorb even one more
Palestinian refugee, and said that the right of return and the right to
compensation are sacred. But these declarations did not remove the fears and
the doubts. Two weeks ago, Marwan Barghouti, head of the Tanzim, the
military arm of Fatah, in an interview for a Jordanian paper, declared
specifically that the Palestinians have no intention of exporting the
Intifada to Jordan or to any other country. This statement only aroused more
questions.
"In a society shrouded in conspiracies, such a statement means that he does
in fact intend to export the Intifada, or at least that is how people here
understand it. Otherwise, why did he bother to deny it in such a manifesto,"
says the Jordanian journalist. Newspaper columnists demand that the
government reveal more details about the negotiations to the public, in
order to prevent the flourishing of rumors, which give rise to doubts as to
the determination of the Jordanian government.
A Jordanian journalist wrote in the newspaper "Al-Dustur" that the
government should not stint on information, because "when the citizen does
not receive information from the government, he turns to the Israeli and
Western newspapers, and to the satellite stations, which add confusion to
the situation. And if the prime minister accuses the press of causing panic,
it's because there is no exact information from the government." The
journalist feels that there are those who want to keep Jordan out of the
negotiations in order "to build a solution [to the refugee problem] at its
expense." This expression has one meaning, i.e. settling the refugees on
Jordanian soil.
When that is the great fear, there is someone ready to try to pull the
carpet out from the other side, saying that Jordan was too hasty in ceding
its holdings in Jerusalem, and that the Palestinians should receive control
over the holy sites only when a recognized Palestinian state is founded. In
other words, if the Palestinians are threatening Jordan with concessions on
the question of the right of return, they should be aware that, at least in
theory, Jordan has some legal holdings in Jerusalem, which it can still
exploit.
About two million Palestinians live in Jordan, and the demographic change
likely to result from the decision to settle additional refugees is Jordan's
greatest fear, but not its only one. The difficult economic situation, which
has worsened in the wake of the Intifada, the loss of income and of
investments, the closing of the Palestinian market as a result of the
closures and encirclements, the rising unemployment, accompanied by new
taxes and the plan to raise fuel prices, are an important enough reason to
reject any plan to settle additional refugees in Jordan.
Some Jordanians are of the opinion that settling refugees in their country
is likely to bring about economic momentum, cause the real estate market to
start moving, make new lands available and bring foreign currency to Jordan,
thus helping the frozen economy; on the other hand, opponents point out that
if we are talking about an economic promise, where is the economic promise
which was given to Jordan's citizens with the signing of the peace agreement
with Israel?
"The public has no confidence in such promises; they understand that the
ones who will benefit from the investments will be the usual rich people,
large contractors and businessmen, who always take the cream for
themselves," says a lecturer at the University of Amman. "This money will
first be transferred to the government, and from there, to those close to
it. The public suspicions of economic promises are always reconfirmed. If we
want to help the Palestinians, we can develop the Palestinian market,
transfer the refugees there, raise the level of demand among them, and thus
open an important channel for export of Jordanian merchandise. But
absorption of refugees in Jordan, setting up more refugee camps and
burdening Jordan's weak market with additional manpower with no way of
making a living, is a guaranteed formula for economic and social ruin.
--------------------------------------------
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To: bprlist@egroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Russia Today items (1/17/01)
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Thu, 18 Jan 2001 09:45:09 -0500
Russians Angered by Bush Remarks
(http://www.russiatoday.com/news.php3?id=257385)
EU'S PATTEN HEADS TO RUSSIA, KALININGRAD ON AGENDA
BRUSSELS -- European Commissioner for External Relations Chris Patten
travels to Russia on Wednesday for talks set to be dominated by the
European Union's plans to admit new members from Moscow's former
sphere of influence.
http://www.russiatoday.com/news.php3?id=257645&brief=text
RIGHTS ENVOYS END CHECHEN TRIP, RUSSIA WARNS REBELS
MOSCOW -- Officials from rights monitoring body the Council of Europe
ended a visit to war-torn Chechnya on Wednesday as Moscow vowed to
"neutralize" rebel leaders.
http://www.russiatoday.com/news.php3?id=257643&brief=text
Russia, France Discuss U.S. Missile Shield Plans (17Jan.01)
http://www.russiatoday.com/news.php3?id=257568&brief=text
Russia Thwarts Turner Bid to Purchase NTV (17Jan.01)
http://www.russiatoday.com/news.php3?id=257548&brief=text
Russia to Launch Ship to Bring Mir Era to End (17Jan.01)
http://www.russiatoday.com/news.php3?id=257547&brief=text
Russia's Putin Gives Extremist Zhirinovsky Top Merit Award (17Jan.01)
http://www.russiatoday.com/news.php3?id=257549&brief=text
Russians Arrest Dozens of Chechens in Search for Abducted U.S. Aid
Worker
(17Jan.01)
http://www.russiatoday.com/news.php3?id=257308&brief=text
Envoy Urges Russians to Show "Decency" in Chechnya (17Jan.01)
http://www.russiatoday.com/news.php3?id=257307&brief=text
Chechen Web Site Says Russians Use Weapons With Depleted Uranium
(17Jan.01)
http://www.russiatoday.com/news.php3?id=257552&brief=text
Chechen Guru Dreams up Fed Air Strikes on Civilians Before Lord Judd's
Visit
(17Jan.01)
http://www.russiatoday.com/news.php3?id=257396&brief=text
Council of Europe Group Visits Chechen 'Filtration Camp' (17Jan.01)
http://www.russiatoday.com/news.php3?id=257388&brief=text
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Subject: [bprlist] Scientists Bring Light to Full Stop, Hold It, Then Send It on Its Way
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Thu, 18 Jan 2001 09:49:01 -0500
1/18/01
Scientists Bring Light to Full Stop, Hold It, Then Send It on Its Way
By JAMES GLANZ
Researchers say they have slowed light to a dead stop, stored it and then
released it as if it were an ordinary material particle.
The achievement is a landmark feat that, by reining in nature's swiftest an=
d
most ethereal form of energy for the first time, could help realize what ar=
e
now theoretical concepts for vastly increasing the speed of computers and
the security of communications.
Two independent teams of physicists have achieved the result, one led by Dr=
.
Lene Vestergaard Hau of Harvard University and the Rowland Institute for
Science in Cambridge, Mass., and the other by Dr. Ronald L. Walsworth and
Dr. Mikhail D. Lukin of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics,
also in Cambridge.
Light normally moves through space at 186,000 miles a second. Ordinary
transparent media like water, glass and crystal slow light slightly, an
effect that causes the bending of light rays that allows lenses to focus
images and prisms to produce spectra.
Using a distantly related but much more powerful effect, the Walsworth-Luki=
n
team first slowed and then stopped the light in a medium that consisted of
specially prepared containers of gas. In this medium, the light became
fainter and fainter as it slowed and then stopped. By flashing a second
light through the gas, the team could essentially revive the original beam.
The beam then left the chamber carrying nearly the same shape, intensity=20
and
other properties it had when it entered. The experiments led by Dr. Hau
achieved similar results with closely related techniques.
"Essentially, the light becomes stuck in the medium, and it can't get out
until the experimenters say so," said Dr. Seth Lloyd, an associate professo=
r
of mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who
is familiar with the work.
Dr. Lloyd added, "Who ever thought that you could make light stand still?"
He said the work's biggest impact could come in futuristic technologies
called quantum computing and quantum communication. Both concepts rely
heavily on the ability of light to carry so-called quantum information,
involving particles that can exist in many places or states at once.
Quantum computers could crank through certain operations vastly faster than
existing machines; quantum commmunications could never be eavesdropped=20
upon.
For both these systems, light is needed to form large networks of computers=
.
But those connections are difficult without temporary storage of light, a
problem that the new work could help solve.
A paper by Dr. Walsworth, Dr. Lukin and three collaborators =97 Dr. David
Phillips, Annet Fleischhauer and Dr. Alois Mair, all at Harvard-
Smithsonian =97 is scheduled to appear in the Jan. 29 issue of Physical=20
Review
Letters.
Citing restrictions imposed by the journal Nature, where her report is to
appear, Dr. Hau refused to discuss her work in detail.
Two years ago, however, Nature published Dr. Hau's description of work in
which she slowed light to about 38 miles an hour in a system involving beam=
s
of light shone through a chilled sodium gas.
Dr. Walsworth and Dr. Lukin mentioned Dr. Hau's new work in their paper,
saying she achieved her latest results using a similarly chilled gas. Dr.
Lukin cited her earlier work, which Dr. Hau produced in collaboration with
Dr. Stephen Harris of Stanford University, as the inspiration for the new
experiments.
Those experiments take the next step, stopping the light's propagation
completely.
"We've been able to hold it there and just let it go, and what comes out is
the same as what we sent in," Dr. Walsworth said. "So it's like a freeze
frame."
Dr. Walsworth, Dr. Lukin and their team slowed light in a gas form of
rubidium, an alkaline metal element.
The deceleration of the light in the rubidium differed in several ways from
how light slows through an ordinary lens. For one thing, the light dimmed a=
s
it slowed through the rubidium.
Another change involved the behavior of atoms in the gas, which developed a
sort of impression of the slowing wave.
This impression, actually consisting of patterns in a property of the atoms
called their spin, was a kind of record of the light's passing and was
enough to allow the experimenters to revive or reconstitute the original
beam.
Both Dr. Hau's original experiments on slowing light, and the new ones on
stopping it, rely on a complex phenomenon in certain gases called
electromagnetically induced transparency, or E.I.T.
This property allows certain gases, like rubidium, that are normally opaque
to become transparent when specially treated.
For example, rubidium would normally absorb the dark red laser light used b=
y
Dr. Walsworth and his colleagues, because rubidium atoms are easily=20
excited
by the frequency of that light.
But by shining a second laser, with a slightly different frequency, through
the gas, the researchers rendered it transparent.
The reason is that the two lasers create the sort of "beat frequency" that
occurs when two tuning forks simultaneously sound slightly different notes.
The gas does not easily absorb that frequency, so it allows the light to
pass through it; that is, the gas becomes transparent.
But another property of the atoms, called their spin, is still sensitive to
the new frequency. Atoms do not actually spin but the property is a
quantum-mechanical effect analagous to a tiny bar magnet that can be=20
twisted
by the light.
As the light passes through, it alters those spins, in effect flipping them=
.
Though the gas remains transparent, the interaction serves as a friction or
weight on the light, slowing it.
Using that technique, Dr. Hau and Dr. Harris in the earlier experiment
slowed light to a crawl. But they could not stop it, because the transparen=
t
"window" in the gas became increasingly narrower, and more difficult to pas=
s
through, as the light moved slower and slower.
In a recent theoretical advance, Dr. Lukin, with Dr. Suzanne Yelin of
Harvard-Smithsonian and Dr. Michael Fleischhauer of the University of
Kaiserslautern in Germany, discovered a way around this constraint.
They suggested waiting for the beam to enter the gas container, then
smoothly reducing the intensity of the second beam.
The three physicists calculated that this procedure would narrow the window=
,
slowing the first beam, but also "tune" the system so that the beam always
passes through.
The first beam, they theorized, should slow to an infinitesimally slow
speed, finally present only as an imprint on the spins, with no visible
light remaining. Turning the second beam back on, they speculated, should
reconstitute the first beam.
The new experiments bore those ideas out.
"The light is actually brought to a stop and stored completely in the
atoms," Dr. Harris said. "There's no other way to do that. It's been done =
=97
done very convincingly, and beautifully."
http://partners.nytimes.com/2001/01/18/science/18LIGH.html?Partner=3DAltaVi
sta&RefId=3D_WLmY_WEFnnunuu-ly
via: Third_Watch@egroups.com
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Subject: [bprlist] The Eastern U.S. Keeps Its Cool
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Thu, 18 Jan 2001 09:50:25 -0500
NASA Science News for January 18, 2001
While surface temperatures across most of the globe are on the rise, the
eastern U.S. appears to be slowly cooling. Scientists say the trend could be
a result of increasing cloud cover triggered by warming Pacific waters.
FULL STORY at
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast18jan_1.htm?list110823
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Subject: [bprlist] Farewell to arms control
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Thu, 18 Jan 2001 10:00:53 -0500
Farewell to arms control
In a dangerous world, Bush prefers weapons to international agreements
"THE outcome of great battles is often determined by decisions on funding
and technology made decades before." So says George W. Bush in his
policy statement on defence. But experts in Europe and the US fear
decisions the new president must make soon will mean those battles will be
fought using horrific weapons that other leaders have spent decades trying to
control.
Bush's policy statements highlight the threat from chemical and biological
weapons. "But the response seems more likely to be in terms of Fortress
America than international controls," says Oliver Meyer of Vertic, a pro-arms-
control group in London. A key phrase in Bush's defence pronouncements
has been "homeland defence", a preference for protecting American soil over
international arms control efforts.
Bush has made it clear that a high priority for defending American soil will be
the National Missile Defense (NMD) system--a scaled-down version of
Ronald Reagan's "Star Wars" programme (see opposite). But such a system
is prohibited under the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, signed by the US and
former Soviet Union in 1972. "The idea of the treaty was that each side
promised to be vulnerable, so nuclear deterrence would work," says Tom
McDonald of the British American Security Information Council, an arms-
control think tank based in London and Washington DC. "The US no longer
wants to be vulnerable, or deterred."
Defending this position in the Chicago Tribune last month, Condoleezza
Rice, Bush's nominee for national security adviser, wrote that deterrence
only worked during the Cold War. "Today, the principal concerns are nuclear
threats from the Iraqs and North Koreas of the world." To achieve NMD, Bush
says he will either talk Russia into amending the treaty, or will abandon it.
The danger then will be China, whose few missiles would become useless if
NMD ever works. According to McDonald, "China typically retaliates against
moves it doesn't like by selling missile technology to proliferation states," as
it did to Pakistan recently. "US insistence on NMD could end up aiding the
rogue states it is meant to oppose."
But, says Meyer, opposition to NMD is so strong in Europe that the US may
need to make concessions in other areas to achieve it. One might be to
ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, a move which was narrowly
defeated in the Senate last year. But the CTBT could still die, says
McDonald. China, too, has not ratified. "To counter NMD, China would need
missiles with multiple warheads. Now it has only single warheads." To scale
up, China would have to resume testing, which in turn might prompt India and
Pakistan to resume as well.
The CTBT is under pressure from another direction. Nuclear weapon
designers at US national labs such as Los Alamos are pressing the
government to abandon the treaty so they can test a new generation of small
nuclear weapons aimed at breaking hardened targets such as underground
bunkers. Bush has pledged $20 billion more funding during his term for
weapons research.
There is even less optimism about the Biological Weapons Convention. A
system for verifying the treaty, requiring countries to declare biological
activities and submit to inspections of labs, is due to be agreed this year.
But the US has so far blocked the most stringent measures, and a new team
may be unlikely to take a softer line, says Barbara Rosenberg of the State
University of New York at Purchase, an expert on the treaty. "They won't
offend their friends in the biotechnology industry by agreeing to intrusive
inspections," agrees McDonald.
At least one area of arms control seems likely to be supported by the new
administration: the Chemical Weapons Convention, a pet project of Bush's
father when he was president. When the US enacted the CWC in 1998, it
exempted itself from the verification inspections required by the treaty, and
from the obligation to allow samples taken during inspections to be tested
out of the country. "One would hope the son will fix what Washington did to
his father's treaty," says Amy Smithson of the Henry L. Stimson Center, a
defence think tank in Washington DC.
Debora MacKenzie
From New Scientist magazine, 20 January 2001.
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns22746
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To: <bprlist@egroups.com>
Subject: Re: [bprlist] Farewell to arms control
From: Lion0Juda
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2001 14:26:25 EST
I personally am very happy to say, "It's about time!" We Americans are being left out in the cold. We are not the heros we used to be in other countries. We are sitting ducks. Our military is everywhere except here. We need to be realistic. We cannot make rational agreements with irrational people. That is a big problem in all of the arms control agreements, they are only as strong as the weakest character.
(me, stepping down off my soap box)
Kimberly
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Subject: [bprlist] Computer chips might one day be cooled by armies of microscopic fans
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Thu, 18 Jan 2001 10:03:56 -0500
Cool running
Computer chips might one day be cooled by armies of microscopic fans
Microchips inside a PC could one day be cooled by armies of microscopic
fans actually grown on the surface of the chips and removing the need for a
large, noisy cooling fan.
The inventors of the microfan, which is small enough to sit on the head of a
pin, speculate that it could also be used to propel tiny flying machines or
pump chemicals around lab-on-a-chip analysis devices.
The fan has eight blades, each less than half a millimetre long. It was made
by etching shapes into thin silicon sheets. "You have to think in two
dimensions when you design it, but know how it will turn out once it's been
folded into position," says Paul Kladitis of the University of Colorado at
Boulder. "It's like being some kind of pop-up book artist."
"I'm impressed they got such an elaborate structure to rotate so well with
integrated motors," says Kris Pister, who is working on insect-like
micromachines at the University of California at Berkeley.
Friction drive
Each fan blade is connected to a central hub by a hinge. To pull the flat
blades up into position, Kladitis deposited gold pads on either side of the
hinge. He then dropped a small blob of solder onto the gold pads. Surface
tension between the solder and gold pads raised the blade. "The solder wets
the gold pads and pulls the wing up into a fan blade position," he says.
The fan is powered by a so-called "scratch drive", which nudges it around. At
the hub end of the thin silicon plates are silicon "feet". These rest on an
insulating layer of silicon nitride that coats a silicon substrate beneath the
fan (see diagram).
To drive the fan, the scratch plate and the silicon base are connected to an
alternating power supply. The difference in electrical potential between the
scratch plate and the base produces cycling electrostatic forces that rapidly
pull the scratch plate down onto the insulator coating and up again. Each
time the scratch plate bows downward, the foot pushes against the insulator
and nudges the fan around.
"We used nine scratch plates in a circle like a merry-go-round," says
Kladitis. "When we drive them with a voltage alternating at two kilohertz, we
get speeds from 50 to 180 revolutions per minute." At three kilohertz, an
electrostatically induced wobble in the scratch plate makes the foot push in
the opposite direction, driving the fan into reverse at 100 rpm.
Kladitis says the fan could be used to pump chemicals around microchip-
based chemistry labs. "You could also put this fan right next to an electronic
component in a computer to cool it, or even use it as some kind of micro-
vehicle propulsion system," he says.
One million revs
Mark Spearing, currently testing microturbines at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, calls the fan "ingenious", but says the speeds
achieved are "rather slow".
"We're striving for in excess of one million rpm in our motor," he says.
Spearing has other concerns too. "I am not a big fan of frictional or sliding
contacts in micro electro-mechanical devices," he says. "Friction and wear
tend to be potential show-stoppers at these scales."
Correspondence about this story should be directed to
latestnews@newscientist.com
1900 GMT, 17 January 2001
http://www.newscientist.com/dailynews/news.jsp?id=ns9999330
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Subject: [bprlist] Mobile phone channels could be trebled by exploiting the reflection of radio waves
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Thu, 18 Jan 2001 10:05:49 -0500
3D data
Mobile phone channels could be trebled by exploiting the reflection of radio
waves
Tall buildings scatter and reflect radio waves but US physicists have found
the effect can be used to triple the information carried. This could boost the
number of channels available for mobile phones in big cities, for example.
"We found three times the wireless real estate was there than people knew
about," says Mike Andrews at Lucent Technologies' Bell Labs in Murray Hill,
New Jersey.
Andrews came across the effect while studying how radio waves travel
through built-up environments. The electric and magnetic fields that make up
radio waves oscillate in three dimensions. But when a radio wave is sent
from one point straight to a receiver, the oscillations in the direction of travel
are not picked up by the receiver.
The result is that information can be carried by radio waves in only two
orientations or polarisations - vertical and horizontal. Andrews found that
when a radio wave is reflected off a surface, such as the side of a building,
the vibrations in the direction of travel change orientation and can then be
picked up at the receiver.
The scattering also allows the magnetic fields associated with the radio
waves to carry information in all three directions; normally they contain no
information not already carried by the electric field.
3D transmitter
Andrews reasoned that the extra vibrations could be used to carry
information if the transmitter and receiver were redesigned to detect signals
polarised in three dimensions.
So the team built such equipment and for both the transmitter and receiver,
they connected three antennae together at right angles to each other. By
sending separate signals to each of the antennae of the transmitter, they
found they could beam radio waves polarised in three dimensions.
To demonstrate the 3D wireless system, Andrews and his colleagues
beamed the image of a painting across their canteen to a receiver 25 metres
away and hidden round a corner. The image was transmitted three times
faster, because three channels of different polarisation were used, not just
one.
Shlomo Shamai of the Technion in Israel says the idea "is most interesting,
but calls also for much further work to assess the real implication on actual
technology."
Source: Nature (vol 409, p 316)
Correspondence about this story should be directed to
latestnews@newscientist.com
1900 GMT, 17 January 2001
Jeff Hecht
http://www.newscientist.com/dailynews/news.jsp?id=ns9999335
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Subject: [bprlist] Keeping it in the family
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Thu, 18 Jan 2001 10:08:09 -0500
Keeping it in the family
English cattle inbred for over 300 years are almost clones but remain as
fertile as ever
Members of a herd of cattle that has been inbred for at least 300 years are
almost clones, yet the herd remains as fertile as ever, says a British team.
This discovery supports suggestions that extreme inbreeding can sometimes
result in a "purging" of bad genes, rather than extinction. And it raises hopes
that inbreeding or even cloning of extinct or endangered species might
produce some successful new populations.
A team led by Peter Visscher of Edinburgh University studied DNA from
members of the now 49-strong herd of Chillingham cattle. These cattle live in
isolation in a park in northern England.
Records indicate that no new cattle have joined the herd in over 300 years.
They also reveal that the fertility of the herd has not declined over this time.
This is despite a population crash in 1947, which left only eight bulls and five
cows.
The new DNA analysis shows that the herd "is almost a clonal organism,"
says Stephen Hall of De Montford University, UK, one of the researchers.
"This is unprecedented in mammals - no other population is so uniform."
"This study doesn't alter the likelihood that inbreeding will lead to extinction.
But it does suggest that purging can happen," says Hall.
So while inbreeding small numbers of endangered animals may often result
in poor fertility and even extinction, Hall thinks that in some "lucky" cases,
gene purging could lead to viable populations.
Lucky line
The team examined 25 "microsatellite markers" in DNA taken from 13
calves, cows and bulls. They found that 24 of the 25 markers were identical
in all the cattle. Samples from a normal herd would have shown that around
70 per cent of the markers were different, says Hall.
The inbred herd's survival may be due to harmful genetic mutations cropping
up only infrequently. This would allow the mutations to be purged by cattle
deaths without the herd being wiped out, says Hall.
But this successful purging probably happens infrequently, he says, as
previous research suggests that inbreeding usually does weaken a
population. One key study on mice in the 1960s found that 19 out of 20
inbred lines died out.
"There are other white cattle populations, but most would have died out if
they hadn't been cross bred," says Hall. "It's possible that we've had 20
populations and we've got one left."
Domestic bliss
Luck may have had a significant part to play in the Chillingham herd's survival
but other factors probably contributed to its success, says Hall. Most
significantly, the herd was once domesticated.
"They're now running wild, and they're feral, but there may have been some
human help in the gene purging during domestication," says Hall. "There is a
theory that during domestication, you select for genes that tolerate
inbreeding."
If genes that promote tolerance of inbreeding do exist, tracking them down
may be important for the successful breeding of small numbers of
endangered species in the future, he says.
More at: Nature (vol 409, p 303)
Correspondence about this story should be directed to
latestnews@newscientist.com
1900 GMT, 17 January 2001
Emma Young
http://www.newscientist.com/dailynews/news.jsp?id=ns9999333
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Subject: [bprlist] For Your Consideration
From: Pam Baker
Date: Thu, 18 Jan 2001 15:55:24 -0500
Answers to Questions.
Studies, in the Bible, have led me to conclude the ‘place prepared of
God´, Revelation 12, is the Nation of Israel and this is where the
woman, Israel, will flee at the beginning of the seven years, where she
will be nourished for 1,260 days. At the mid-point of the seven years
we are told she is to fly into the wilderness on the wings of a great
eagle. This indicated, to me, that she would, literally, fly out of
Israel to the US, the great eagle, where she will be for the next 1,260
days. However, I was uncertain as to how valid this could be since,
apparently, the beast would be able to impose the ‘no seal, no buy or
sell,´ edict everywhere. However, it came to my attention this morning,
the new president of the US, in his defense policy statements, has been
stressing ‘home defense´ in place of arms control. His policy
statements have highlighted the threat from chemical and biological
weapons but, as Olive Meyer says: "But the response seems more likely
to be in terms of Fortress America than international controls."
It is possible, therefore, that, between now and the mid-point of the
seven years, the US could set up defenses that would allow it to repel
attacks from all quarters, including attacks from the revived Roman
Empire during the second half of the seven years. In that event, when
Satan takes over the beast, the US (the great eagle) could, and I think
would, mount an airlift of Israelites to the US. The beast would send
out a flood of fighters to destroy the planes of the airlift but God
would already have arranged to make the US defenses powerful enough for
‘the earth´ to ‘swallow up the flood´, literally, in the Atlantic ocean.
At the present time, the population of the US probably includes people
from every nation in the world. If not, people from the ‘missing´
nations could wind up in the US during the seven years, so that, when
the end comes there would be a remnant from every nation to survive the
vial judgments and enter the millennium kingdom in their natural state,
with the remnant of the Jews, and repopulate the earth. Praise the
Lord!
In old testament times God raised up the Babylonian empire and used
them to punish the Jews and it is possible He has raised up the US to
save a remnant of all nations, including the Jews. Praise the Lord!
An unbridled arms build-up between now and the time of Armageddon would
ensure that enough destructive power is available to effect the total
destruction God said would come. He is God!!!
Charles Baker January 18, 2001
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Subject: Re: [bprlist] For Your Consideration
From: <owner-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Sun, 21 Jan 2001 10:01:27 -0500
Hello Charlie,
I appreciate your thoughts on Rev 12:14, however, I must respectively disagree with much of it, especially the part about the United States being "the great eagle." I present my viewpoint Charlie only with the intent that we can learn from one another -- not to suggest a "I'm right, you're wrong" type of argument.
Revelation 12:14
"And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent."
If I may, please allow me to suggest that the phrase "two wings of a great eagle" is a figure of speech, bringing to mind, specifically the Jewish mind, the event of the exodus out of Egypt where the care and nurturing nature of God was abundantly revealed to the Israelites. I believe the wings of the (and most texts suggest the article should be "the" and not "a") eagle is symbolically referring to God's intervention, not a nation's.
Exodus 19:4
"Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself."
Deut 32:9-14
For the LORD'S portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: So the LORD alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him. He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock; Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape.
Isaiah 40:31
"But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."
Aside from the many biblical references to eagle's wings, Jewish literature also has similar symbolism. In addition to what I've quoted below, one interesting Judaic principle is that proselytes or converts to Judaism are brought under the "wings of the Divine Presence" or "wings of the Shechinah".
"Among mortals, it is the slave who carries his master, but of God we read 'And how I bore you on eagles' wings' (Ex. XIX, 4). Among mortals, it is the master who sleeps, while the slave stands by, but God is the guardian of Israel, for it says, 'Behold, He that keepeth Israel doth neither slumber nor sleep' (Ps. CXXI, 4)." [Midrash Rabbah - Exodus XXV:6]
"'YE HAVE SEEN WHAT I DID UNTO THE EGYPTIANS. AND HOW I BARE YOU ON EAGLES' WINGS. What do 'eagles' wings' denote? According to R. Judah, the 'eagles' are a symbol of mercy, as it says: 'As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings, so the Lord...' (Deut. XXXII, 11). As the eagle watches lovingly over its own young, but is cruel towards others, so does the Holy One manifest His loving mercy to Israel and His severe judgement to the heathen nations." [Soncino Zohar, Shemoth, Section 2, Page 80b]
"The gazelle gives birth to her young on the topmost point of a rock, and it would fall into the abyss and be crushed to death, if I did not send an eagle thither to catch it up and carry it to its mother. Were the eagle to appear a minute earlier or later than the appointed time, the little gazelle would perish. It hath never happened that the proper minute of time was missed. Should I, then, have mistaken Job for another?" [Louis Ginzberg, "Legends of the Jews," Volume II, Job.]
"The words that Moses was to address to the women as well as to the men, to the Sanhedrin as well as to the people, were as follows: "You yourselves have seen - for it is not from writings, or through tradition, or from the mouths of others that ye learn it - what I did for you in Egypt; for although they were idolaters, slayers of men, and men of lewd living, still I punished them not for these sins, but only for the wrong done to you. But ye will I carry on the wings of eagles, on the day of the revelation at Sinai, and ye will I bring to Me when the Temple shall be erected. Since I have wrought for you so many miracles, even before you had received the Torah and observed the laws, how many more miracles will I work for you, when you will have received the Torah and observed the laws! The beginning of all things is hard, but as soon as you will have grown accustomed to obedience, all else will be easy to you. If you will now observe the Abrahamic covenant, the Sabbath, and the commandment against idolatry, then will you be My possession; for although everything belongs to Me, Israel will be My especial possession, because I led them out of Egypt, and freed them from bondage." [Ginzberg, Volume III, The Torah Offered to Israel]
One might still argue that the U.S. is the "instrument" that God will use to carry the "woman" to the wilderness. While it is true that the eagle is an American emblem, at the time that Revelation was written, it was also an emblem of the Roman empire. If "a great eagle" is to suggest a nation, to the first century hearers of this book then, the nation brought to mind would have been Rome -- and that just doesn't fit into the interpretation of Revelation 12 I believe. Also note that the emblem being referenced is the wings of an eagle, not the eagle itself.
As an interesting side issue here, the similarities between Rome and the U.S. are worth looking at. I sent this to the list a year or so ago, and found it most telling:
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Rome & America
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Thu, 17 Jun 1999 11:51:10 -0500
From: <owner-bpr@philologos.org>
Hi guys...
Found this comparison quite interesting:
From 100-300 AD most of pagan Rome converted to Christianity.
When America was founded, 67% of the population was
Christian.
Christians in Rome suffered severe persecution.
Christians in America were fleeing European persecution.
Rome was the melting-pot of the world.
America is the melting-pot of the world.
Rome was a democracy based upon a two-party system (the
Optimates and the Populares).
The USA is a democracy based upon a two-party system
(Democrats and Republicans).
Rome had a divided balance of power (Roman Tribune and his
Senate).
America has a divided balance of power (President and
Congress).
Rome was based on specific laws (Rome's 12 tables).
America is based on specific laws (the Constitution).
Rome protected the rights of its citizens.
America protects the rights of its citizens (Bill of Rights).
In Rome all men were equal (International Law of Rome).
In America all men are equal (Declaration of Independence).
Rome had a sordid history of slavery.
America had a sordid history of slavery.
Rome was capitalistic.
America is capitalistic.
Rome practiced abortion as a means of population control.
America practices abortion as a form of population control.
Rome loved R-rated entertainment (history of Pompeii).
America protects R-rated entertainment under the First
Amendment as freedom of speech.
Rome had a welfare program funded by taxes.
America's welfare budget rivals its military budget.
Rome had a thriving business in lawsuits.
America has a thriving business in lawsuits.
Sports was Rome's pastime.
In America football dominates fall and winter, basketball winter
and spring, and baseball spring and summer.
Ancient Rome's national emblem was the single-headed eagle
pointing west.
America's national emblem is the single-headed eagle pointing
west.
From 300-500 AD the Roman Church was weakened spiritually
because of pagan infiltration.
After 200 years the Church in America has been weakened
spiritually because of Masonic infiltration.
(Daniel, John. "Scarlet and the Beast," Vol. I, pgs 698-699,
(c)1995; quoting Randy Shupe, "Is America Mystery Babylon the
Great?" (c)1990, pg 79)
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To: bprlist@egroups.com
Subject: Re: [bprlist] For Your Consideration
From: tracy
Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2001 02:33:28 -0500
> If I may, please allow me to suggest that the phrase "two wings of a great eagle" is a figure of speech, bringing to mind, specifically the Jewish mind, the event of the exodus out of Egypt where the care and nurturing nature of God was abundantly revealed to the Israelites. I believe the wings of the (and most texts suggest the article should be "the" and not "a") eagle is symbolically referring to God's intervention, not a nation's.
I would like to add something to this if I may.
I was meditating after reading some parts of the bible. I had questions
as to the symbolic meaning and questions as to translation from many
languages to english. I know that is not always easy.
A couple of thoughts appeared to me and I saw them, this is how I
understood them to mean. If GOD inspired the written text would not GOD
have known how the meaning of words change with time and through
translation. So as to inspire certain people through out history in
their part of the world?
GOD also has to get a message through to people that are not in
existence yet in a place that is not there and a language that does not
exist. Futher complicated by a prophets ability to describe what they
could not understand. Like a rocket or a gun to atomic explosion. So
GOD put prophesy in patterns like he told Nostradamus to do. Like a
paraphrase. Or a Tom Cruse movie.
Here is an example of what I mean by pattern or form. All of his movies
are basicaly the same. tom plays a nderprivliged kid with talent in
conflict with privliged kid who because of economic status is seen as
superior. Toms character (call him x) has some success against rich
kid (call him d). x meets girl that is wanted also by or currently
with d. Success gets her attention and they find "True" love, soul
mates. X gets big head. X stumbles. X admits within himself that he
has problems and faces them. X has a comeback and beats d at his own
game and in great fashion. X wins girl. Most movies out today fit one
formula or anouther. Scripter seems this way.
I see the Eagle as FREEDOM. GOD created us a FREE people. The
freedom to pursue happiness the freedom to learn and grow. The freedom
to pursue the delights of your imagination. To pursue what GOD engraved
within you.
With freedom to pursue GODs will for you and a atmosphere that
encourages growth, (something we need to get back to) you have a place
that will breed contentment and happiness. But that is the last thing
that Babylon wants. By Babylon I mean the economic forces that have
been entrenched for centuries. The money behind the power. When people
are content with little more than they need for there pursuits and
simple living they tend to not work very hard. Why bother with that
when you can get back to living within GOD? Not to mention that if you
dont have a need you tend not to buy this gadget or that.
I see the Beast as the United Nations under agenda 21 with Ba' hai as
the second beast. Fire could be the Wold press orginization with all of
the deciet that comes through the air waves. When The lady is symbolic
of Lady Liberty and the Eagle symbol of power and freedom. Freedom and
encouragement have given us the understanding that words really can't
hurt you and that to me is a wonder of Heaven. For to me heaven is
salvation from your accurser. So people that understand that have a
little piece of Heaven in their lives.
Any way this is the vision that came to me. Thank you for your time.
GOD bless you all.
Tracy
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To: bprlist@egroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Harpazo.net News items (1/18/01)
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Thu, 18 Jan 2001 18:43:31 -0500
Turkey Warns France On Genocide Bill
Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit has warned that relations with France
are on the verge of a serious crisis. The French parliament is due to vote on
Thursday on a bill which seeks to recognise as genocide the killing of
Armenians in the Ottoman Empire. In one last effort to sway French political
opinion, Mr Ecevit summoned the French ambassador on Wednesday to
warn that relations between the two countries would suffer what his office
called "great and durable harm" if the bill is approved. BBC
Egypt In On The Ground Floor With Incoming Bush Administration
Egypt has begun talks with the transition team of President-elect George W.
Bush and hopes that the incoming administration will bolster U.S. strategic
relations with Cairo.
Egyptian diplomats said Bush has already contacted President Hosni
Mubarak and Secretary of State-designate Colin Powell has spoken on the
telephone with Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Mussa. The talks concerned
bilateral relations and Middle East issues.
Egypt's ambassador to Washington, Nabil Fahmi, said the Bush team
envisions visits by Egyptian senior officials to the United States in the
second half of this year. Fahmi told the Egyptian state daily Al Ahram that
he expects relations to be bolstered during the Bush administration. world
tribune
Sunrise In California Could Plunge State Into Blackout
Experts fear California will face another power crisis Thursday morning, when
thermostats are moved up, coffee makers started and offices switch on
copiers and computers. That surge in power usage could drop electrical
reserves down enough to cause blackouts around 7 a.m. PST (10 a.m. EST).
California's Independent System Operator (ISO) expects to receive less
electricity from other states or Canada on Thursday than it did Wednesday,
which means that blackouts, if they occur, would range statewide from near
the Oregon border to San Diego.
State power officials warned that the rolling blackouts may resume around 10
p.m. PST (1 a.m. EST) Wednesday, though some said that scenario was
unlikely, since many residents are using less power at that hour.
Jim Detmer, managing director of ISO operations, said if the blackouts were
reinstituted later in the day, "it will be a statewide event." He said, "The
situation is very serious, extremely serious." CNN
Astronomers Close-In On Alien Signal
A detailed look at the point in space from where an intelligent signal might
have come has revealed nothing unusual. The observations, using the
multiple radio dishes of the Very Large Array (VLA) in New Mexico, add to
the mystery of what has been called the "Wow" event. In August 1977 radio
astronomers in the United States detected what could have been a signal
from intelligent life in space. But it happened only once. Now, two
astronomers, Robert Grey and Kevin Marvel, have used the VLA to look at
the spot with unprecedented sensitivity. They saw nothing strange or
anything that could explain the signal. BBC
Today In Italy: Day of Christian - Jewish Friendship
At the end of today's general audience the Holy Father told the pilgrims
present in the Paul VI Hall that "today in Italy we are celebrating the Day for
Jewish-Christian Friendship. As I express appreciation and support for this
initiative of the Italian Church, I hope with all my heart that it contributes to
the development of an authentic Jewish-Christian dialogue." He also recalled
that "tomorrow starts the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, during which
the Churches and ecclesial communities will pray together so that the will of
Christ, that is, that His disciples be one only, will be realized. ewtn
Supremes Won't Hear Baptist Temple Case
The Supreme Court decided yesterday not to hear the case of a church
awaiting seizure by U.S. Marshals -- an action set in motion by an appeals
court that said the church owes $6 million in back taxes, interest and
penalties.
The church did not withhold certain employment taxes from employees'
paychecks, leaving individuals to decide whether or not to pay the taxes due.
About 60 church employees passed IRS audits. But the agency determined
the taxes should have been withheld and paid by the church, not individuals,
and successfully sued the Indianapolis Baptist Temple.
As reported by WorldNetDaily, the Indianapolis Baptist Temple stands by its
convictions that a church and its property belong only to God. However, what
individuals choose to do with the money they receive from the church is their
own decision, says IBT's attorney Al Cunningham. Members and friends of
IBT are holding a rally today in response to what they say is "the death of
religious liberty in America." The rally begins at the church in Indianapolis at
noon. world net daily
Coalition Helps Kids Avoid 'Homosexual Curriculum'
A coalition of traditional-family advocates has announced the release of a
comprehensive "opt-out" form for parents who disagree with pro-homosexual
education programs and curriculum content in California public schools.
The form is similar to one Designed to give parents more control over what
their children learn in government schools, the opt-out form was created by
the California Student Exempt Project. Member organizations include the
Campaign for California Families, Life Legal Defense Foundation, Pacific
Justice Institute, the Pro-Family Law Center and United States Justice
Foundation.
"With homosexual curriculum coming into all public schools, it is imperative
that parents and grandparents take action now to protect their children's
eyes, hearts and minds," said Andrea Franklin, team coordinator for project
and field operations director for Campaign for California Families. "The
Student Exemption Form is the most helpful opt-out form ever created for
California parents. It will save children from dangerous new laws promoting
perverse sexual behavior." world net daily
www.harpazo.net/news.html
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========
To: bprlist@egroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] BNI.Priority News 1,2 (1/18/01)
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Thu, 18 Jan 2001 18:43:32 -0500
1. More on murder of 16-year-old Ashkelon resident=09
2. Peace partners continue to boycott Israeli products=09
3. Shooting in Kfar Darom and at Rafiah crossing=09
4. Holon bounty hunter apprehended by Israeli security agents=09
5. No injuries in shooting attack against Egged bus in Samaria=09
6. Soldiers attacked by gunfire during =91hot pursuit=92 of terrorists=20
7. Peace partners continue to boycott Israeli products=09
8. Shooting in Kfar Darom and at Rafiah crossing=09
9. 40 collaborators living in Israel turn themselves over to PA=09
10.Sharon agrees to Palestinian statehood=09
11.Hunger strikers call it quits after 19 days=09
12.Terror victim released from hospital=09
13.PM condemns murder of 16-year-old=09
=20
***************************
18-JAN-01 =96 9:30pm
***************************
1. More on murder of 16-year-old Ashkelon resident
(BNI-JAN.18) Police report that it appears a 16-year-old resident of
Ashkelon left his home earlier this week to rendezvous with an Internet
lover or acquaintance, a resident of the PA autonomous city of Ramallah.
Family members indicated they were uncertain of his destination when he
left home, reportedly carrying a significant amount of cash. The family of
the victim has been notified by police and the body has been positively
identified. At this time, the name is not being released for publication.
Family members reported the youth missing on Wednesday. Police=20
launched an
investigation.
The bullet-ridden body of an unidentified man believed to be an informant
who was executed, was located on a road near the Jewish community of
P=92sagot on Wednesday, inside the PA autonomous area. The body was
transported to a Ramallah hospital. When Israeli officials circulated the
photograph to their PA counterparts in the ongoing search for the missing
Ashkelon resident, the corpse in the Ramallah hospital found near P=92sagot
was identified as the missing teenager.
The slain teen was seen together with an Arab female inside Ramallah by
IDF Soldiers on Wednesday, reporting that at about 11:00am Wednesday
morning, a car stopped in Ramallah and persons dressed in plainclothes got
out of the vehicle and opened fire on him, killing him.
It is being reported that he was shot =93multiple times=94. PA officials ar=
e
turning over the body to the Ramallah area IDF District Coordinating
Office on Thursday night. PA security officials report several suspects
have been arrested for the murder.=20
The teenager became the 47th victim of Islamic terrorists since the start
of the PA orchestrated Intifada on Sept. 29, 2000.
BNI will provide additional details as they are made available.=20=20
=20
++++
2. Peace partners continue to boycott Israeli products
(BNI-JAN.18) PA residents are stepping up their boycott of Israeli
products, doing their utmost not to purchase items manufactures in Israel.
Many stores throughout PA autonomous areas are proudly displaying that
they have removed all Israeli products from their shelves while motorist
display bumper stickers calling for a total boycott of Israeli goods.
Marwan Barghouti, a senior commander of the PA=92s Tanzim terrorist force,
has called for increasing the boycott, pointing out that in addition to
the ongoing daily attacks, the PA residents must place an economic
stranglehold on Israel as well.=20=20
++++
3. Shooting in Kfar Darom and at Rafiah crossing
(BNI-JAN.18) IDF forces at Kfar Darom and at the Rafiah border crossing to
Egypt in southern Gaza came under attack by PA gunfire on Thursday
evening. There were reports of heavy exchanges of gunfire. There were no
reported casualties among IDF forces.=20=20
++++
4. Holon bounty hunter apprehended by Israeli security agents
(BNI-JAN.18) Holon resident Shmuel Ashakota, 50, was apprehended by
Israeli security forces after it was learned that he was receiving money
from PA security officials for the apprehension of former Arab
collaborators who assisted Israeli security forces.
According to preliminary reports, Ashakota would attempt to convince a
collaborator to accompany him into the PA area to close a business deal,
then setting him up with PA security officials who were waiting to make
the collar upon their arrival.
One such collaborator, who was apprehended and injured, then transported
to a PA hospital in Hebron, managed to escape and tell his story to agents
of the General Security Service (GSS/Shin Bet) who subsequently moved in
and made the arrest, assisted by police.
Ashakota=92s wife told reporters that her husband was not successful in
providing a livelihood and became despondent. She added that the NIS 5,000
check received from the PA bounced so they received nothing for the effort
and her husband was under arrest.
When police came to apprehend him, he pulled out a knife and threatened to
harm his wife and himself. He was taken into custody without incident.=20
++++
5. No injuries in shooting attack against Egged bus in Samaria
(BNI-JAN.18) An Egged bus traveling in northern Samaria, south of the
Jewish community of Shavei Shomron, was attacked by gunfire on Thursday
evening. There were no reports of casualties but bullets did cause damage
to the armor-plated vehicle.=20=20
++++
6. Soldiers attacked by gunfire during =91hot pursuit=92 of terrorists
(BNI-JAN.18) IDF soldiers in =91hot pursuit=92 of terrorists that fired on =
a
commuter bus near Ofra earlier in the evening were attacked with gunfire
in the Arab village of Silwad, which is under PA civil and IDF security
control. There were no reported casualties. Soldiers returned fire. (Kol
Rina =96 formally Kol M=92Hashetach)=20=20
=20
++++
7. Peace partners continue to boycott Israeli products
(BNI-JAN.18) PA residents are stepping up their boycott of Israeli
products, doing their utmost not to purchase items manufactures in Israel.
Many stores throughout PA autonomous areas are proudly displaying that
they have removed all Israeli products from their shelves while motorist
display bumper stickers calling for a total boycott of Israeli goods.
Marwan Barghouti, a senior commander of the PA=92s Tanzim terrorist force,
has called for increasing the boycott, pointing out that in addition to
the ongoing daily attacks, the PA residents must place an economic
stranglehold on Israel as well.=20=20
++++
8. Shooting in Kfar Darom and at Rafiah crossing
(BNI-JAN.18) IDF forces at Kfar Darom and at the Rafiah border crossing to
Egypt in southern Gaza came under attack by PA gunfire on Thursday
evening. There were reports of heavy exchanges of gunfire. There were no
reported casualties among IDF forces.=20=20
++++
9. 40 collaborators living in Israel turn themselves over to PA
(BNI-JAN.18) Fearing for their lives, about forty former collaborators
that worked for the General Security Service (GSS/Shin Bet) and live in
Israel, turned themselves over to the PA during the past week.=20
Earlier in the week, PA Minister of Justice Freih Abu Meidan announced
that any former collaborator who turns himself in, and agrees to provide
the name of his handler and other informants, would receive clemency.=20=20
Security officials are having an increasingly difficult time obtaining
intelligence information from areas throughout Yesha as a result of the PA
crackdown on collaborators and more stringent rules governing the
operation of GSS agents and their interrogation methods, aimed at
conforming to international human rights standards. Opponents of the
implementation of GSS guidelines insist that the result will be increased
Islamic terrorist attacks.=20=20
++++
10. Sharon agrees to Palestinian statehood
(BNI-JAN.18) Likud candidate for Prime Minister, MK Ariel Sharon, on
Thursday revealed his plan that would be implemented if elected to office
on Feb. 6.
Sharon announced that a Palestinian state would be established on 42
percent of Judea and Samaria already in PA control and additional Jewish
communities throughout Yesha would not be uprooted. He added that new
communities would not be constructed.
Sharon=92s multi-stage plan is based on reciprocity, explaining on Thursday
that the PA would have to ensure that law and order were maintained and
Islamic terrorism would be stopped.=20=20
Sharon explained that Jerusalem would remain as it is presently without
and changes in the status quo arrangement over the Temple Mount and other
holy sites.
Other points of the Sharon plan include;
a) No peace negotiations with Syria at this time,=20
b) Major Israeli construction drive in the Galilee Region,
c) An end to closures on PA autonomous areas,
Sharon repeated earlier statements that the education ministry portfolio
would remain in Likud hands but promised National Religious Party allies
that they NRP would not be excluded and would be well cared for in his
government. He did not elaborate. Earlier in the week, Zevulun Orlev, the
NRP representative to the Sharon campaign, resigned with the consent of
party leader MK Rabbi Yitzhak Levy, after it was learned the NRP would not
receive the sought after educational portfolio that has been in NRP hands
during the overwhelming majority of governments during the past decades. =
=20
++++
11. Hunger strikers call it quits after 19 days
(BNI-JAN.18) Safra Square hunger strikers in Jerusalem on Thursday have
called it quits following their 19-day effort. The participants of the
strike were protesting the ongoing government peace negotiations with the
PA while daily terror attacks continued.
Strike leaders explained that the decision to bring the effort to an end
was several fold. The end of the Clinton administration on Saturday marks
the end of any real chance of a substantial agreement prior to the
elections. Prof. Eli Pollack, strike leader and senior member of the
Professors for a Strong Israel organization, pointed out that any
agreement signed between Israel and the PA following Clinton=92s stepping
down was not binding and of little significance other than a Labor Party
pre-election ploy.
They added that following requests from President Moshe Katzav and Chief
Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau to end the strike, they deemed it appropriate to
comply.=20=20
++++
12. Terror victim released from hospital
(BNI-JAN.18) Ohz Guata, 12, who was shot in a northern Jerusalem terrorist
attack on Jan. 8, was released from Jerusalem=92s Hadassah Hospital on
Thursday.=20=20
++++
13. PM condemns murder of 16-year-old=20
(BNI-JAN.18) In response to the reports of the murder of a 16-year-old
Ashkelon resident on Wednesday in the PA autonomous city of Ramallah,
Prime Minister/Defense Minister Ehud Barak condemned the act and added
that negotiations could not continue while terrorism was ongoing.
=93The brutal murder was most tragic and we see it in a very serious
light=85It is most difficult to continue negotiations during an atmosphere
of violence such as this latest attack. There are many legitimate voices
among the Israeli people calling for an end of talks in light of such
events. This does not help and it is most serious=85=94 added the prime
minister.=20=20
---------------------
1. Abducted IDF soldiers reported to be alive=09
2. PA condemns murder of Ashkelon teen=09
3. APC carried attacked by gunfire in Gaza=09
4. Israel likely to agree to marathon talks with PA in Taba=09
5. Israel: PA did not cooperate in search of missing Ashkelon youth=20
6. Barak: PA to receive over 90 percent of Yesha=09
7. Infant found in Herzliya Pituach=09
8. Friday declared =93Day of Rage=94=09
***************************
18-JAN-01 =96 10:42pm
***************************
1. Abducted IDF soldiers reported to be alive
(BNI-JAN.18) According to a report by a German intermediary, the three IDF
soldiers kidnapped from northern Israel by the Hizbullah terror
organization in Oct of last year are alive although one=92s condition is
reported as =93sensitive=94.
It is being reported that efforts to obtain the release of the three are
underway with the assistance of foreign intermediaries. To date, Hizbullah
has refused to permit International Red Cross or other officials visit the
soldiers in order to confirm they are alive and well.
The three are Sergeant Adi Avitan, Staff-Sergeant Avraham Binyamin, and
Staff-Sergeant Omer Suaed.=20=20
++++
2. PA condemns murder of Ashkelon teen
(BNI-JAN.18) As reported earlier by BNI, PA officials=92 report that severa=
l
suspects have been taken into custody, alleged to be connected to the
murder of a 16-year-old Ashkelon resident on Wednesday. The name of the
victim has not yet been cleared for release.
Senior PA officials have condemned the attack in an official statement
released on Thursday night.=20=20
++++
3. APC carried attacked by gunfire in Gaza
(BNI-JAN.18) An armored personnel carried was attacked by gunfire in Gaza
on the Karnei/Netzarim road. There were no injuries to Israeli forces that
returned fire, injuring two assailants.=20=20
++++
4. Israel likely to agree to marathon talks with PA in Taba
(BNI-JAN.18) Analysts report it is likely that the so-called Security
Cabinet will on Friday approve PA requests for marathon negotiations to
achieve some type of agreement prior to the Feb. 6 election for prime
minister in Israel. The talks would be hosted in Taba.=20
With various popularity polls showing the Likud candidate leading Prime
Minister Barak by 13-20 percentage points, it appears that PA Chairman
Arafat is working to sign a document with Barak to create facts on the
ground prior to the election of a right-wing government under the
leadership of Ariel Sharon.=20=20
Raviv Druker, a political correspondent for Galei Tzahal/IDF Radio,
reported that the one common denominator of the various polls is there is
no narrowing of the par between Sharon and Barak.=20
The ongoing negotiations during this week and the possibility of the
marathon talks are in contradiction to recent statements made by PM Barak
who promised talks would not resume until there was an end to daily
shooting attacks.
++++
5. Israel: PA did not cooperate in search of missing Ashkelon youth
(BNI-JAN.18) Israeli security officials on Thursday night report that with
the discovery of the dead body of the missing Ashkelon teenager in the
autonomous city of Ramallah, the PA did not cooperate with police during
the search.
The senior sources reported that they turned to their PA counterparts
during the search for the missing Ashkelon teenager but did not receive
cooperation from the PA, adding that PA officials attempted to cover-up
facts in the case and interfere with the search and investigation.=20=20
PM Barak stated that those responsible would be punished, adding that such
attacks only make the negotiating process increasingly difficult and
complicated.
The ongoing investigation into the terrorist murder indicates that the
female who met the victim was involved in luring him to the area and
setting up the shooting attack.=20
++++
6. Barak: PA to receive over 90 percent of Yesha
(BNI-JAN.18) During Labor Party election ads aired on Israel Television
Thursday night, Prime Minister Ehud Barak stated that in an agreement with
the PA, over ninety percent of Yesha (Judea, Samaria & Gaza) would be
turned over to PA control.=20
Barak added that a special situation and governing body would oversee free
access to holy sites for all in Jerusalem=92s Old City. The Western Wall,
Mount of Olives and Old City would remain under exclusive Israeli
sovereignty and the Temple Mount would not be given away to the PA, added
Barak.=20=20=20=20
++++
7. Infant found in Herzliya Pituach
(BNI-JAN.18) A one-day-old infant was found inside a bag on Kaplan Street
in Herzliya Pituach on Thursday night. The infant was transported to
Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv by an EMS ambulance where doctors report he
is in good health.=20=20
++++
8. Friday declared =93Day of Rage=94
(BNI-JAN.18) Intifada leaders have declared this Friday as another =93Rage
Day.=94 Official PA marches and assemblies calling for increased unrests an=
d
violence accompanied such days during past weeks. The days also signaled
increased attacks against Israeli military and civilian targets.=20=20
++++
=20
++++
News items published by BNI (=93BreakingNews-Israel=94) and/or =93BNI.Elect=
ion=94
lists, may be distributed, copied, posted providing the websites and other
forums carrying the stories display the footer below instructing readers
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++++
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To: bprlist@egroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Nightline: Part two of series on CIA predictions for year 2015
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Thu, 18 Jan 2001 18:52:04 -0500
TONIGHT=92S SUBJECT: Part two of our series on the CIA predictions for the
year 2015. Tonight we look at three main areas, the change in the world=92s
population and demographics, the threat posed by new diseases, and believe
it or not, water, rather than oil, becoming a cause of regional conflicts.
Already this morning, I heard from three different people who said that
last night=92s broadcast scared them so much that they couldn=92t watch the
whole thing. Clearly from a ratings standpoint, this is not good.=20
Seriously though, that surprised me. Those of you who saw the program
know that the analysis put together by the CIA is a little bleak. But I
think their purpose, and our purpose in running these broadcasts, is to
raise these issues now so that the government, and the public, can prepare
for them, and hopefully take the necessary steps to head off the more dire
predictions, or at least be more prepared to react to some of these
developments. As Ted said in the interview last night, paraphrasing
Dickens, we=92re seeing the shape of things that may come to pass, not
things that will come to pass. But maybe I=92m just being optimistic.
Tonight=92s show will look at three specific issues. The first is the
emergence of new and more virulent diseases. The danger here is seen as so
great that some argue that the U.S. military should not be deployed to
certain parts of the world so that they will not be exposed. Secondly,
we=92ll look at how the population of the world is changing. First, the
numbers are exploding, mostly in those parts of the world where the
infrastructure to support larger populations does not exist. Huge numbers
of people are moving from the countryside to the cities, bringing a whole
new set of problems. And lastly, water is looming as a scarce and
valuable resource over the next few years. With larger populations comes
greater demand for water for irrigation and just personal use. Some
countries are beginning to dam off the rivers passing through their
territories, cutting off needed supplies for the countries further
downstream. If oil was a reason to go to war before, water certainly will
be. It=92s sobering stuff.
[...]
Nightline <listeditor@abcnews.go.com>
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To: bprlist@egroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Russia halts military cuts as hawks take over in US
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Thu, 18 Jan 2001 18:52:57 -0500
Russia halts military cuts as hawks take over in US
Missile defence plans strengthen the Kremlin hardman's arm
Ian Traynor in Moscow
Thursday January 18, 2001
The Kremlin has shelved plans to cut and restructure the Russian armed
forces radically, a decision seen by Moscow analysts as its first concrete
response to the incoming Bush administration's decision to press ahead with
the "son of Star Wars" national missile defence system.
In November, after months of infighting between military commanders,
President Vladimir Putin ordered them to put their house in order by reducing
the 1.2m under arms by 360,000 in the next five years. He also ordered a
shift in emphasis from the strategic nuclear missiles to conventional forces.
The reshaping was to have begun last month, but nothing will happen until
March at the earliest. "The main reason for the delay is the first steps of the
new US leadership," the respected military analyst Viktor Litovkin said.
Only time will tell whether Presidents Putin and Bush will strike up a friendly
relationship, but the early signs are of increasing hostility between Moscow
and Washington on security, arms control and economic and financial
issues.
In the past few weeks Washington has accused Moscow of covertly
deploying battlefield nuclear weapons in Kaliningrad, its westernmost
enclave, and has been angered by Russian moves to invigorate arms sales
to Iran.
Moscow, in turn, accused the US last week of breaching the Start-I nuclear
arms reduction agreement by going ahead with the national missile defence
system (NMD). Mr Putin described the Kaliningrad allegation as "total
rubbish."
George W Bush indicated at the weekend that his administration would halt
much financial aid to Russia.
Yesterday the chairman of the Russian parliament's budget committee,
Alexander Zhukov, brusquely responded: "Russia does not need large loans
from foreign countries at the moment."
Yuri Gladkevich, a military observer at Moscow's independent Military News
Agency, said: "There are signs of a worsening in relations, and it looks as
though things will get a lot worse yet."
Moscow analysts see the people Mr Bush has named for his key cabinet
posts - Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice -
as hawks from a bygone era.
"These are people who see themselves as the victors of the cold war," said
Alexander Golts, military commentator on the news magazine Itogi.
"The Kremlin and the generals are flattered by that, because it reminds them
of the days of the USSR when they were a great power. But the new
American administration is making a very strong and negative impact on our
military."
Moscow sent three warships on patrol in the Pacific on Monday, its most
ambitious naval display since the Soviet Union collapsed a decade ago.
Mr Putin has been pushing for a radical overhaul of the armed forces since
the Kursk submarine disaster August, and that has provoked a public brawl
between the defence minister, Igor Sergeyev, and the chief of the general
staff, Anatoly Kvashnin, who wants the currently separate strategic missile
forces integrated with the army, navy and air branches and scarce resources
redirected to building up conventional forces.
Gen Kvashnin was generally supposed to be getting the better of the
struggle, but Marshal Sergeyev's hand may have been strengthened by the
new US administration's robust militaristic signals and "new realism" in
international relations.
"Sergeyev wants to maintain the strategic missile forces as a political-
military instrument, as the main lever for pressure on the US and Nato," Mr
Gladkevich said.
"The new US administration means Putin won't weaken the strategic
missiles forces to the degree that Kvashnin wants."
In the past year the Kremlin has repeatedly stated that it wants major arms
reductions, including cutting its stockpile of nuclear warheads to 1,500. But
Alexei Arbatov, an influential moderate on the parliamentary defence
committee, now argues that Russia needs 4,500 nuclear warheads to
maintain parity with the US.
"The Kremlin sees NMD as as threat to Russia's national security which will
ignite a new arms race it can't afford," Mr Gladkevich said.
http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/russia/article/0,2763,423745,00.html
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To: bprlist@egroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] (Fwd) PRESIDENT KATSAV TO VISIT
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2001 08:52:24 -0500
------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date sent: Thu, 18 Jan 2001 19:25:08 -0500
From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: PRESIDENT KATSAV TO VISIT RUSSIA,
UKRAINE AND GEORGIA
PRESIDENT KATSAV TO VISIT RUSSIA, UKRAINE AND GEORGIA
(Communicated by the President's Spokeswoman)
Jerusalem Thursday, January 18, 2001
President Moshe Katsav will, from 21-26.1.2001, visit Russia, Ukraine
and Georgia, at the invitation of their heads of state, Vladimir Putin,
Leonid Kuchma and Eduard Shevardnadze, respectively. This will be the
first official visits by a President of Israel to these countries and
President Katsav's first trip abroad.
The visits are designed to strengthen Israel's relationships with each
of the three countries. President Katsav will discuss various issues -
including the peace process, the Middle East situation, and bilateral
issues - with his interlocutors who will include the aforementioned
heads of state, as well as senior government officials in each country.
President Katsav will also meet local Jewish community leaders in each
country. He will be accompanied by Deputy Foreign Minister Nawaf
Massalha, Jewish Agency for Israel Chairman Sallai Meridor, National
Security Council Chairman Maj.-Gen. Uzi Dayan, Netiv Chairman Tzvi Magen
and a 25-person delegation of leading Israeli industrialists.
President Katsav has invited two lone immigrant IDF soldiers - who have
not met with their parents since immigrating to Israel - to accompany
him.
In accordance with articles 22 and 23 of Basic Law: The President of
the State (<http://www.israel-mfa.gov.il/mfa/go.asp?MFAH00hc0>), Knesset
Speaker Avraham Burg will serve as Acting President while President
Katsav is abroad.
--------------------------------------------
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To: bprlist@egroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Humanism
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2001 09:01:26 -0500
[Link from a list member.]
HUMANISM
by Pastor Bob Hallstrom
I would hope that everyone is familiar with or at least
has heard of the Communist Manifesto. Its ten planks
provide us with the basic tenets of Marxism, and
actually, all the ism's.
But today there is a new manifesto among us -- it is
called the Humanist Manifesto. The Humanist
Manifesto, like the Communist Manifesto, provides
the basic tenets of Humanism, which are given to us
in their Humanist Manifesto I (1933) and Humanist
Manifesto II (1973).
We are going to look at some of these tenets because
it is one way we can understand what Humanism is
all about.
Full article:
http://www.melvig.org/hall/humanism.html
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========
To: bprlist@egroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Molestation as protected behavior
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2001 09:06:25 -0500
Molestation as protected
behavior
=A9 2001 WorldNetDaily.com
OK, that does it. I've seen everything, now.
America has gone off the deep end. There's no
other explanation for this kind of insanity.
Here's what has me shocked, mortified, shaking
my head in disbelief, appalled and, nearly,
speechless.
This from the Las Vegas Review-Journal: A
narcotics detective suspected of molesting a
16-year-old boy won't be charged with any sex
crimes by prosecutors, who said such action
would be (are you ready for this?)
"discriminatory toward homosexuals."
Detective Vinten Hartung (that's his name, folks,
it's not a typo), 42, is still being investigated for
two lesser charges of stalking and furnishing
alcohol to a minor. But the big charge -- the
felony -- of "soliciting a minor to engage in the
infamous crime against nature" will be
dropped. Neither will there be a federal felony
charge of using the Internet to solicit a minor for
sex.
"We in essence concluded neither the state nor
the federal authorities are able to pursue the
sexual offenses," said Clark County District
Attorney Stewart Bell. "It discriminates against a
class of people, and that's not allowed under the
equal protection clause of the Constitution."
Do you believe these people?
Here are some more pertinent details: Hartung
was placed on paid leave in November after the
father of the 16-year-old boy complained that
the detective would not leave his son alone. An
investigation found that Hartung and the boy
were, in the words of the newspaper, "involved
in an intimate relationship after making contact
in an America Online chat room."
Intimate relationship? A cop is chasing around a
16-year-old boy, plying him with alcohol,
&nbs