The Scout Report - July 23, 1999

Scout Report for Science & Engineering
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/report/sci-eng/1999/se-990721.html
Volume 2, Number 21 of the Scout Report for Science & Engineering is available. The In the News section annotates nine resources on the health threat of the hundreds of thousands of tons of obsolete pesticides left in many nations around the world. [MD]
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Chile Declassification Project
US Department of State FOIA Reading Room
http://foia.state.gov/
FOIA Reading Room Alternate Entrance [.pdf]
http://foia.state.gov/welcome.htm
CIA Press Release on Chile Declassification Project
http://www.cia.gov/other_links/ps990630.html
As reported in the July 13, 1999 Scout Report for Social Sciences, several US Government agencies recently began to declassify documents related to events in Chile from 1973 to 1978, widely regarded as the most repressive period of General Augusto Pinochet's reign. Since then, the US State Department has made available the full text (heavily censored in some instances) of over 4,000 documents at its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Electronic Reading Room. Culled from the files of the Department of State, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of Defense, the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the National Archives, the documents can be accessed in two ways. Users will find links to agency-specific documents on Chile at the bottom of the Reading Room Home Page or a link to the entire collection in the Special Interest section (fifth from the top) at the second URL. Two search options are available, but unfortunately, the documents may not be browsed. Search returns are ranked, briefly annotated (document type, pages, date, sender, and recipient), and offered for download in .pdf format. [MD]
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A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates 1774-1873
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lawhome.html
The fifth installment of this very large project from the US Library of Congress's American Memory Collections (reviewed in the March 20, 1998 Scout Report) now brings the total of Congressional history online to 111 volumes covering the time period of 1774-1821, from the Continental Congress to the 16th Congress. At present, nine different titles, comprising thousands of pages of documents are available. Sources include Journal of the House of Representatives;Journal of the Senate; _Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate;Annals of Congress;Journal of William Maclay, United States Senator from Pennsylvania, 1789-1791; Journals of the Continental Congress;The Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution;Records of the Federal Convention of 1787; and United States Statutes at Large. Information can be browsed or searched. Content is available as either directly viewable images (Annals), TIFF images, or text. [MD]
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R-HydroNET: A Regional, Electronic, Hydrographic Data Network for South America, Central America, and the Caribbean [.zip, .tar, ascii, .ps]
http://www.R-hydronet.sr.unh.edu/
The Global Hydrology Research Group at the University of New Hampshire provides this excellent resource on regional hydrometeorological data for South America, Central America, and the Caribbean. Available in English, Spanish, or Portuguese, the data are organized by geographic location. Two large data sets are available to the general public: Monthly Time Series and Climatological (site-specific resolution) Hydrometeorological Data Sets, and Monthly Temperature and Precipitation Data Sets (30-minute spatial scale resolution). Data may be downloaded by country/ region (.zip, .tar, ascii, or .ps formats). Given the general paucity of publicly available, baseline information for this important region, R-HydroNET is a solid template upon which future data may be added. [LXP]
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AGRIGATE
http://www.agrigate.edu.au/
Provided by the libraries of the Universities of Melbourne, Adelaide, and Queensland, this metasite serves as a gateway to resources for the study of agriculture. Users can browse the database by broad subject heading with optional cross terms, browse by alphabetical subject list, or search by keyword or by several fields in the advanced search. Search returns include a short annotation, a link to the resource, and a link to the full description in the AGRIGATE database. Full records include title, author, publisher, date, coverage, format, and helpfully, user level. The resources themselves vary, but test searches produced mostly sites from governments, universities, and professional organizations, and scholarly articles in various formats. Users are welcome to suggest a resource using an online form at the site. [MD]
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Early Manuscripts at Oxford University
http://image.ox.ac.uk/
Based at Oxford University and part of the Specialised Research Collections in the Humanities initiative supported by the Higher Education Funding bodies of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, this project is making scanned images of ancient, medieval, and Celtic manuscripts available for free personal use by researchers. At present, the site offers nearly 30 manuscripts, some of them rather substantial. After browsing by collection and library and accepting the stated conditions, users may view the manuscripts by folio. Most are presented as thumbnailed images in framed pages with information on the document and viewing tips provided. Users should note that the JPEG images of each page can be very large, as much as 140MB, and faster connections and more powerful computers are strongly recommended. The site recommends configuring an appropriate viewer, such as ACDSee, as a helper application rather than viewing the JPEG images in one's browser. Highlights of the collection include an unfinished Canterbury Tales with the scribe's instructions, a fourteenth-century treatise on Welsh medicine, the early sixteenth-century Annals of Ulster, and a sixteenth-century text on military science and siegecraft with colored diagrams. [MD]
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Missouri Botanical Garden: Moss Home Page [.zip, .mdb]
http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/tropicos/most/
Recognized as one of the leading centers for study and training in bryology, the Missouri Botanical Garden (originally reviewed in the August 19, 1994 Scout Report) offers a large selection of resources for the study of mosses. These include the Index of Mosses searchable database; a searchable bibliographic database of Bryological literature; a Bryological glossary; Moss Checklists of Thailand, China, and Chile; and LATMOSS, A Catalogue of Neotropical Mosses (text downloadable in .zip format, literature database as a Microsoft Access file). Additional contents of the site include an overview of the Garden's bryology program and links to other projects, including the Bryophyte Names Authority Lists, the PEET project on Bryological Systematics, and the Moss Flora of Central America. [MD]
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Criminal Victimization 1998: Changes 1997-98 with Trends 1993-98 [.pdf, .zip]
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/cv98.htm
This new report from the US Department of Justice (USDOJ) Bureau of Justice Statistics reveals that violent and property crimes have again fallen to their lowest rates since the survey began in 1973. The drop in violent crime continues a downward trend that began in 1994, although rape and sexual assault showed no decline from 1997 to 1998. The biggest drop in property crime was motor vehicle theft, which declined 22 percent from 1997 to 1998. Users may download the survey findings in .pdf format, the spreadsheets in .zip format, and the official press release and highlights in plain text. [MD]
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UNISPACE III [.pdf]
http://www.un.org/events/unispace3/
The official Website of the third UN Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (held July 19-30, 1999 in Vienna) offers numerous resources for interested users. These include a selection of background papers on UN space activities and the conference, reports from the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, resolutions and treaties, other related documents, press releases, and speeches and statements. The site also offers a conference program, photos, and related links. Some documents are in .pdf format. [MD]
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The Institute of War & Peace Reporting (IWPR)
http://www.iwpr.net/
Based in London, this independent media group focuses on the Balkans, the Caucasus, and other areas in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. IWPR "aims to inform the international debate on conflict and provides training and a platform for independent media and other democratic voices." To that end, the Institute offers a host of news, publications, and special reports that are invaluable current awareness tools for anyone seriously interested in events in these regions. Current news offerings feature several pieces on the latest events in Kosovo and Serbia. Special reports and other publications at the site include Balkan Crisis Reports, the WarReport,Media Caucasica, Hague Tribunal Update, and Media Focus. A search engine for _Balkan Crisis Reports and browseable archives of WarReport and Tribunal Update are also available. In addition, users can sign up to receive several free bulletins by email. [MD]
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The Progress of Nations 1999 [.pdf, 38p.; RealPlayer]
Frames Version
http://www.unicef.org/pon99/
No Frames
http://www.unicef.org/pon99/fronote1.htm
UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) has once again posted its annual report, The Progress of Nations, online. This year's report places special focus on the debt crisis of the world's poorest nations, the AIDS emergency, the campaign to eradicate polio, and a new Child Risk Measure League Table, which ranks the risks to children in countries around the world on a scale of 0 to 100. The report is available in HTML or .pdf format. Four RealPlayer videos are also available. [MD]
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The Life of Birds -- PBS [RealPlayer]
http://www.pbs.org/lifeofbirds/
This companion to a new PBS series featuring renowned wildlife documentary host Sir David Attenborough is not as feature-rich as some comparable sites but deserves a visit nonetheless. Essentially a collection of five thoughtful illustrated essays, the site explores bird evolution, intelligence, songs (with RealPlayer examples), parenting, and several superlative birds. Additional contents include classroom resources (currently only two lessons), an essay on the making of the series, and a selection of annotated online resources. [MD]
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Civil and Military Technology Sites
Air Force Technology
http://www.airforce-technology.com
Army Technology
http://www.army-technology.com/
Mining Technology
http://www.mining-technology.com/
Naval Technology
http://www.naval-technology.com/
Offshore Technology
http://www.offshore-technology.com/
Railway Technology
http://www.railway-technology.com
Ship Technology
http://www.ship-technology.com
Although designed for professional contractors, these sites offer an interesting diversion for the technophile or armchair general. Provided by Net Resources International, each site contains a host of professional information, including industry organizations, exhibitions, and conferences, and a company index. However, general users will be most interested in the current projects and equipment catalog sections, which offer specifications and photos of a large number of interesting gadgets and vehicles. Whether users want to learn more about the latest high-speed trains, attack helicopters, submarines, supertankers, oil platforms, rock drilling tools, or long range bombers, they will find it at one of these sites. [MD]
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Sports Sleuth
http://www.sports.sleuth.com/
Created by Infonautics, the developers of Company Sleuth (reviewed in the January 14, 1999 Scout Report for Business and Economics), this new free service (in preview launch) allows users to register and receive breaking news on up to five of their favorite sports teams. Currently, Sports Sleuth tracks the NFL, NBA, NHL, Major League Baseball, Division I-A NCAA Football, and NASCAR, with more additions planned for the future. Subscribers will receive email updates that include national and local news, scores, transactions, injury reports, previews, schedules, rosters, and more. Users can instead opt to read their sports news via a pulldown menu at the site, which also highlights popular news stories for each sport and the week's top ten most viewed articles. An extensive list of the Sleuth's sources (not hyperlinked) is also provided. [MD]
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Solemates: The Century in Shoes [Quicktime, Flash]
http://www.centuryinshoes.com/
Produced by The Marketing Store as an example of how the Internet can be used as a "multidimensional information delivery tool," this very attractive site is a joy for anyone with an ardor for footwear fashion. The heart of the site is a decade-by-decade look at shoes from the 1900s to the 1990s. Each decade features an illustrated introductory essay, six examples of representative footwear that can be examined in detail, period advertisements, and Quicktime clips of "Scenes from the Decade" Other offerings include a timeline of great moments in shoe history and three special features: Dangerous Shoes, Ga-Ga for Gaza, and Ruby Slippers. [MD]
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FAST Search
http://www.alltheweb.com
Claiming to be the world's biggest search engine, this new Web tool is the product of a joint venture between Dell Computer and FAST, a Norwegian company that has announced its intention to catalog the entire Internet. At 80 million searchable documents, FAST Search is not actually the world's most comprehensive engine (with over 150 million documents indexed, Northern Light holds that title), but it may be if it reaches its goal of 200 million by the end of summer 1999. Whether it becomes the largest or not, it is probably the Web's fastest search engine. Test searches returned tens of thousands of hits in under a second. Most returns were fairly relevant, especially when an exact phrase search was executed. Return pages also include a link to the same search at Lycos FTPsearch, which indexes over 100 million FTP files. [MD]
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1st Choice Browse2000
http://www.ftppro.com/
1st Choice Browse2000, created by Sabine Consulting, is yet another Web browser with some interesting and novel features. Browse2000 provides a dual-window view of the browsing experience. Each window can contain different Websites, and the user can choose to display links from one window in the other window or vice-versa. This is very useful when exploring a list of hits from a search engine, for example. Browse2000 also organizes bookmarks in a searchable database and allows the user to select up to 200 pages from the bookmark list to load simultaneously, so that the pages can be browsed later without waiting for each page. Navigation can be slightly confusing with Browse2000, and some features are difficult to distinguish from bugs, but for some power Web users, this browser may be an ideal prescription. 1st Choice Browse2000 runs on Win95/98/NT and, after a three-day free evaluation period, costs $95. [CL]
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Chinese Government Bans Falun Gong
China Bans Falun Gong -- People's Daily
http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/special/fagong/home.html
Falun Gong Prohibited -- China Daily
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/falun/index.html
"Creating A Vacuum" -- South China Morning Post
http://www.scmp.com/news/Comment/Article/FullText_asp_ArticleID-19990723013051904.asp
"Elusive Falun Gong Leader Says Mass Following Rattles China" -- Inside China Today
http://www.insidechina.com/features.php3?id=80918
Falun Dafa [RealPlayer]
http://www.falundafa.com/
Introduction to Falun Gong (Falun Dafa)
http://www.mindspring.com/~falun/home1.html
NPR reports on Falun Gong and Falun Dafa [RealPlayer]
http://www.npr.org/ramfiles/me/19990722.me.09.ram
http://www.npr.org/ramfiles/atcupdates/19990722.atcupdates.03.ram
http://www.npr.org/ramfiles/atc/19990722.atc.07.ram
"The Complex Web of Falun Gong" -- BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/asia-pacific/newsid_401000/401268.stm
In the toughest domestic security measure since 1989, the Chinese Government officially banned the quasi-religious Falun Gong sect yesterday. The announcement was accompanied by a wave of arrests and a massive propaganda offensive against the sect's charismatic founder, Li Hongzhi, who was accused of sinister and disruptive motives. The centerpiece of the case against Li Hongzhi came in a special 70-minute television program that highlighted cases of Falun Gong members who had killed themselves or others or who refused medical treatment. Falun Gong, or Falun Dafa as it is known in the US (where Li Hongzhi currently resides), has been described as holding a mixture of Buddhist and Taoist philosophies and practicing Chinese deep breathing exercises known as Qi Gong. The sect claims to have over 100 million adherents worldwide and is clearly seen by the Communist Party leadership as a potential political threat. These feelings were intensified on April 25, when approximately 10,000 followers of the movement materialized overnight and maintained an eerie silent vigil outside the leadership compound in Beijing, demanding official recognition. More than anything perhaps, this demonstration of the group's ability to organize and mobilize in secrecy convinced the government to move to suppress them. The US and human rights groups have criticized the crackdown, but if past behavior is any indication, the Communist Party leadership will place internal order and political hegemony before any potential diplomatic fallout.

People's Daily, an official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CCCPC), offers a collection of recent articles on the movement and the government, including an editorial supporting the crackdown. China Daily has also placed their current articles and editorials on Falun Gong on a single page. Based in Hong Kong, South China Morning Post has posted an editorial that criticizes the government for moving against the sect. Inside China Today offers highlights from a recent interview with Falun Gong leader Li Hongzhi. Users can learn more about Li Hongzhi and his teachings at the official Falun Dafa site, which includes video and audio clips and lectures (some in English), and the Introduction to Falung Gong site, which offers numerous links to related Websites. National Public Radio (NPR) featured reports on the sect and the Chinese government yesterday in its two flagship news magazines, Morning Edition and All Thing Considered. The first two NPR sites provide nice overviews of Falun Gong and the government, and the third is an interview with a Falun Dafa volunteer in New York City. The BBC also offers a concise and helpful description of Falun Gong and its core beliefs and practices. Additional sources of information on China can be found in Signpost, the Scout Report's database. These include the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the United States of America, Amnesty International Publications and News Releases on The People's Republic of China, and Human Rights Watch: Reports on China. [MD]
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