What's New for Oct 18, 2002

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: "What's New" <whatsnew () aps org>
Date: Fri, 18 Oct 2002 16:31:15 -0400 (EDT)
To: farber () central cis upenn edu
Subject: What's New for Oct 18, 2002

1. THE KIM IL JUNG BOMB: NORTH KOREA FLAUNTS ITS CAPABILITY.  The
U.S. is prepared to go to war with the Iraqis because they have
an unstable leader, and may have weapons of mass destruction.  Is
there another country that fits that description?  Yes, but it
has no oil.  Under a 1994 agreement, North Korea agreed to halt
its nuclear weapons development in exchange for proliferation-
resistant nuclear power plants.  Now, confronted with new U.S.
intelligence, North Korea responds with a sort of in-your-face
admission that not only has its program been going on in secret,
they have enough stuff to make nuclear weapons.  And, like Iraq,
it seems they've been focusing on highly enriched uranium.  On
the other hand Kim Il Jung never tried to kill Bush's dad.

5. THE SNIPER: DO YOU TAKE THE STAIRS INSTEAD OF THE ELEVATOR?
After all, people get killed when elevators fall.  Oops, people
also get killed tripping on the stairs. Here in Washington, a
local TV station offered advice on how to bob and weave while
filling your gas tank, and some people have been driving miles
out of town to fill up.  Do they have any idea what the fatality
rate is on our roads?  Others just stay home.  Maybe we should
explain to people that you're as unlikely to be the sniper's
target as you are to be struck by a falling tree.

THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND and THE AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY
Opinions are the author's and are not necessarily shared by the
University or the American Physical Society, but they should be.


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