-Caveat Lector- Click Here: <A HREF="http://www.aci.net/kalliste/">The Home Page of J. Orlin Grabbe</A> ----- Fin-de-siecle Plot to Blow Up Al Aqsa Mosque Israeli police officer arrested. JERUSALEM (Nov. 25) - A retired Israeli police officer has been arrested on suspicion he threatened to blow up the Al Aqsa Mosque compound, police said Thursday. The man was taken into custody and later hospitalized, said police spokeswoman Linda Menuhin. She said the officer had retired early from the force due to health problems stemming from job-related ``encounters with difficult incidents, terrorist acts and violent situations.'' The man allegedly called Israel radio earlier this month and threatened to blow up the Al Aqsa Mosque compound, home to Islam's third-holiest shrine, Menuhin said. Judaism's most revered site, the Western Wall, runs alongside the compound. The ex-officer was arrested shortly after the call was placed, she said. With the approaching millennium, Israeli security forces are on heightened alert about possible attempts by religious fanatics to attack holy sites in Jerusalem. Earlier this year, Israel deported members of a Denver-based apocalyptic cult on suspicion they plotted to carry out attacks near holy sites. [For the real plot to blow up the Temple Mount, read the Jack Parsons Saga.] Associated Press, November 25, 1999 Single Currency ECB Defends the Euro But still can't get it up. Wim Duisenberg, president of the European Central Bank, is concerned that the euro's weakness against the dollar will damage public confidence in Europe's single currency. He told the FT he had received many letters from members of the public, particularly from Germany, expressing fears that their savings were at risk from the currency's weakness. Mr Duisenberg said the euro's weakness against the dollar did not matter greatly from an economic point of view, because it seemed unlikely to stoke serious inflationary pressures in the medium term. But he added: "[It] does give me some concern that a further movement in this direction would contribute to undermining the confidence in the euro of the public at large. Unjustified, but still it is a public perception." The euro has fallen this week to a four-month low of less than $1.02 to the dollar - which was its closing price in London yesterday - partly because of concerns about the economic problems facing Germany. Otmar Issing, the ECB's chief economist, said the euro was also "very much affected by new information about the strength of the US economy". Mr Duisenberg said: "The euro has strong potential ...I can discover no reason why the euro will weaken further." The public should judge the ECB not on the euro's exchange rate, but on whether the bank was achieving price stability in the euro-zone. Discussing the ECB's decision to raise interest rates earlier this month by 0.5 percentage points to 3 per cent, Mr Duisenberg said a minority on the bank's 17-member governing council had wanted an increase of only 0.25 points. The council tried to operate by consensus, but: "A consensus doesn't indicate in all cases that if there had been a vote, it would have been unanimous." The ECB intended to start publishing its economic forecasts for the euro-zone, ranging from inflation and real GDP to the 11-nation area's overall public deficit. Mr Duisenberg hinted that his own position as ECB president was important to maintaining confidence - so he was reluctant to signal at this stage that he would step down early under a compromise agreed with the French government. "I am aware that it may sound a bit bragging, but I do feel that in a large part of Euroland I have a great deal of confidence from the people. That imposes a rather heavy responsibility to keep on doing what I am doing," he said. Partly on account of his age - he is 64 - Mr Duisenberg is still thought to be willing to leave office without serving his full term. But he has made clear he wants to go with dignity and not before the introduction of euro banknotes and coins is completed in June 2002. The Financial Times, November 26, 1999 ----- Aloha, He'Ping, Om, Shalom, Salaam. Em Hotep, Peace Be, Omnia Bona Bonis, All My Relations. Adieu, Adios, Aloha. Amen. Roads End DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! 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