-Caveat Lector- SkeptiNews 991202e - - - - - - - - - - - All The News That's Fit To Question * Passages starting with ':' are editorial comments to provoke discussion. * Nothing contained here is ever endorsed for truth, accuracy, or meaning. * PLEASE DO NOT INCLUDE THE ENTIRE BULLETIN WHEN YOU REPLY; CUT/PASTE, EH? * No divine forms were explicated during the production of this bulletin. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ @ A Botanical Clock: http://www.mjt.org/exhibits/sunflower.htm _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ # SUN & SCHIZOPHRENIA. El Niño, a climate phenomenon that brings drought to eastern Australia, may also reduce cases of schizophrenia. Researchers found that fewer people born in El Niño years developed schizophrenia in later life: http://www.newscientist.co.uk/ns/19991113/nshorts.html#16 @ The Tectonic Theory & UFOs. -- Here is a look at the possibility that alien abductions are purely psychological "dreams" caused by seismic activity. http://xprojectmagazine.com/archives/skeptic/altpara6.html : Would you rather be schizophrenic or abducted? Does El Niño trump seismic activity? How many experiential phenomena are controlled by the environment? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ # What's Behind the WTO Ruckus? The Battle of Seattle makes for great TV & street reporting, but the mayhem obscures real, global, human concerns. http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,32825,00.html?tw=wn19991202 # Update - Provocateurs Noted In Seattle Riots: http://www.sightings.com/politics5/gasm.htm # Instant Net Coverage Of Seattle Events: http://www.sightings.com/politics5/seat.htm : What's your favorite urban riot? Do you provoke disturbances? Are you well paid? Who do you work for? Who benefits from the disruptions? Who suffers?? # COPS STIFLE WTO DEMOS - FOR NOW: http://cnn.com/1999/US/12/02/wto.04/ @ Other Coverage - FlashPoints: http://www.flashpoints.net/ & DemocracyNow: http://www.kpfa.org/1pro_bio/1b_democ.htm & CounterSpin: http://www.kpfa.org/1pro_bio/1b_count.htm _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ # Defending Privacy Snooping. Collecting, storing & selling your personal data has many positives, not the least of which is helping grow the econ- omy. That's what a credit-reporting exec told a financial privacy confab. http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,32826,00.html?tw=wn19991202 : Do you mind if your privacy is just slightly compromised? Should/must/will privacy be sacrificed for economic vitality? Would you rather be prosperous or hidden? If you're rich enough, can you buy privacy? Are the super-rich super-private? Are poor people worth knowing anything about? Are you public? # He Won't Join Amazon's 'Kampf' - The online bookseller's ban of selling Hitler's infamous diatribe in Germany is a perfect example of not learning from past, horrible mistakes. Fight evil words with good words, not bans: http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,32835,00.html?tw=wn19991202 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ # NASA Changes Its Mars Approach. All systems are go for NASA's Mars Polar Lander rendezvous. But the shadow of the lost Mars Climate Orbiter looms large. www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,32670,00.html?tw=wn19991202 # Lander Camera Will Capture Martian Surface As Never Seen Before: From Only A Few Feet Up. For just under 2 minutes, a camera aimed at the south polar region of Mars will capture & store a series of about 20 images unique in the annals of planetary exploration: the surface of a planet (other than the moon) as seen from altitudes ranging from about 4 miles to only about 30 feet. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1999/12/991202070515.htm : Have you lost any spacecraft lately? Are you cautious, cowardly, scared? Do you hover nervously over a planetary surface, afraid to touch down? Have you taken tranquilizers? Do you see clearly? Do your voices calm you down?? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ # Predicting the flu of the future. (BBC) Evolutionary scientists have come up with a way of successfully predicting which strain of influenza will strike in the following year. And they might even be right this time. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_547000/547318.stm # Also: Secrets of killer flu unearthed: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_523000/523163.stm # Another flu drug on the way: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_467000/467269.stm # Scientists develop lifelong flu vaccine: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_465000/465584.stm : How well can you predict evolution? Can you predict evolution better if you control it? Who runs the flu-development conspiracy? Why do they breed new flu varieties? What's their agenda? Do you feel sick? Are you immune?? # Neanderthals Worked Themselves to Death. An anthropologist studying the diets and bone strength of ancient hominids and Neanderthals says the Neanderthals had to work harder to do the same things as the hominids. http://www.discovery.com/news/archive/news991119/brief2.html?ct=38432988 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Y2K-A-Rama: # Y2K - Mormons Grounded. (DN) The LDS Church has grounded all employees, missionaries & general authorities from any air travel between midnight Dec. 30 & midnight Jan. 5, citing Y2K uncertainties. They're not yet ready for heaven: http://www.deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,145007786,00.html # Y2K - Don't Pick Up That Phone To Ring In The New Year: http://www.sightings.com/politics5/phone.htm # Y2K - Crowds, High Prices, Y2K Dampen Millennium Party Fervor: http://www.sightings.com/politics5/ferv.htm # Y2K - Oil-rationing plan in works - System kicks in if 7% of oil supply is cut: http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/reuters19991130_1287.html # Y2K - Ozzies flee Moscow, Warsaw Embassy staffs yanked from Eastern Europe over Y2K: http://www.news.com.au/news_content/national_content/4148803.htm # Y2K - MILLENNIUM TIMES SQUARE BALL GETS TEST RUN - hypnotic lights work superbly: http://cnn.com/1999/US/12/01/times.square.ball/index.html # U.S., RUSSIA OPEN NUCLEAR COMMAND CENTERS TO PREVENT Y2K MISHAPS - nuked on purpose, not by accident: http://cnn.com/1999/US/12/01/us.russia.y2k/ # Y2K - Iran Warns Its People Of Breakdown Of Public Services - Allah Unable To Protect Them: http://www.sightings.com/politics5/iran2k.htm # Y2K - IEA Plans For Emergency Oil Sales And Rationing...Just In Case - Not That It'll Be Needed: http://www.sightings.com/politics5/iea.htm _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ "I'm not unemployed and homeless, I'm a UFO researcher." --Scott Methvin * Rev. 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