-----------------------------------
 GOOD NEWS
 Humanist Press Agency
 -----------------------------------
 
 Issue No. 29,  August 24, 2000.
 
 -----------------
 EDITORIAL
 -----------------
 
 This is the great universal truth: Money is everything. Money is government,
 money is law, money is power. Money is basically sustenance, but more
 than this it is art, it is philosophy, it is religion. Nothing is done without 
 money, nothing is possible without money. There are no personal relationships
 without money, there is no intimacy without money. Even peaceful solitude
 depends on money. 

 But our relationship with this "universal truth" is contradictory. Most people
 do not like this state of affairs. And so we find ourselves subject to the
 tyranny of money - a tyranny that is not abstract, for it has a name, 
 representatives, agents, and well-established procedures. 

 -----------------------------------------------------------
 * H E A D L I N E S * H E A D L I N E S *
 -----------------------------------------------------------
 
 SCIENTIFIC ACHIEVEMENTS
 
 * Orbiting Earth: Zvezda Has Docked With Space Station.
 * Netherlands: More Accurate Lung Cancer Diagnosis Technique Confirmed
 * Ukraine: Ukraine goes online.
 * Great Britain: Scientists find nine new planets.
 * USA: Uranium can be Used to Cure Cancer.

 CULTURAL ACHIEVEMENTS
 
 * Great Britain: Genocide Research Institute Opens in London.
 * Greece: Ioc Seeks to Revive Ancient "Ekexiria".
  
 SOCIAL ACHIEVEMENTS.
 
 * Germany:  Payment for Nazi crimes.
 * Azerbaijan: Demonstrators Demand Fair Elections.

 --------------------------------------------------------------------
 NEWS  * NEWS * NEWS  * NEWS * NEWS *
 --------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 SCIENTIFIC ACHIEVEMENTS

 Zvezda Has Docked With Space Station.

 Orbiting Earth, july 25, 2000
 (By: Juha Uski)

 Zvezda, the Russian module that will provide power, guidance systems and
 living quarters for the International Space Station has docked with the
 fledgling orbiting outpost. The automatic module mating of Zvezda with the
 station took place about 240 miles (384 km) above Russia well before dawn
 arrived Wednesday in Moscow.
 Russian and U.S. space officials expect the successful rendezvous to usher
 in a flurry of manned and unmanned flights to the space station, including
 the first long-term inhabitants, expected to arrive in October. The space
 laboratory, a massive 16-nation project headed by the United States, will
 be complete in another five years, after more than 40 space flights.
 Zvezda's flawless launch on July 12th was a relief for both Russian and U.S.
 space officials, who called it a major success for the international space
 partnership. Since the launch, Zvezda's systems have been tested several
 times and ground controllers performed a simulated docking. "Zvezda" is
 Russian and means "Star".
 The station is now made up of the Zarya module, built by Russia with U.S.
 funds and launched in November 1998, and the NASA-built Unity connecting
 chamber, launched in December 1998. The next major piece to be added is the
 U.S.-built Destiny science module, the center of the station's research
 activity, due to be launched in January.  
 
 --------

 More Accurate Lung Cancer Diagnosis Technique Confirmed

 Netherlands,  July 27, 2000
 (By: Juha Uski)
 
 The latest research in Groningen University Hospital in the Netherlands
 confirms that a combination of two scanning techniques - adding PET scans
 to the standard CT scans - gives a more accurate diagnosis of lung
 cancer than the usual single scan diagnosis. More accurate diagnosis leads
 to better treatment and makes it easier to decide whether an operation
 should be performed.
  The standard scan is CT, which means computed tomography, also known as
 "CAT scans". CT is a computerized analysis of X-rays and its function is to
 spot possible tumors of at least 1 centimeter.
  The additional scan recommended by the researchers is known as PET, which
 means positron emission tomography. PET uses a radioactive tracer to detect
 "hot spots" of increased metabolic activity, which is typical of tumors,
 even tiny ones.
  PET scan technology was developed in the 1970s, but its complexity limited
 its use to large research universities until recently, when insurers began
 covering the scans and major hospitals started buying the machines.
  
 --------
 
 Ukraine goes online.

 Kiev, Ukraine
 July 31, 2000
 Radio Free Europe
 (By: Juha Uski)
 
 The president of Ukraine, Leonid Kuchma has signed a decree on Internet
 development in Ukraine, reported Interfax on July 31. The decree commits the
 government to provide Internet connections to scientific organizations,
 educational and cultural institutions, as well as to a wider segment of the
 population. The government is also to draft a bill on the protection of
 intellectual property and copyrights on the Web. The decree also stipulates 
 that by the end of 2000 the government must create websites for all central and
 local executive branches of power, as well as for leading scientific and
 educational institutions in Ukraine

 -------
 
 Scientists find nine new planets.

 Manchester, UK
 August 7, 2000
 AP, Reuters
 (By: Juha Uski)
 
 Teams of astronomers from Geneva (Switzerland), Texas and Berkeley (USA)
 told a meeting of the International Astronomical Union that they have found
 nine new planets circling stars outside our solar system.
 
 Due to equipment limitations, it has been difficult to locate more than one
 planet orbiting one star. With the current telescopes one cannot see the
 planets orbiting other stars; instead, scientists are detecting how a circling
 planet can make a star wobble. Astronomers have now found 50 exoplanets
 (planets circling stars other than our Sun), 41 of them in the last five years,
 but this was only the second time they have found more than a single planet
 orbiting another star.
 
 The findings suggest that it's quite common to have planets around other
 stars; therefore, our solar system is not as unique as we might think. That 
 makes the possibility of life in the universe more likely.

 ----------

 Uranium can be Used to Cure Cancer.

 New York, USA, July 31, 2000
 AP
 (By Juha Uski)

 There is a ton of uranium-233 at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in 
 Tennessee, USA. The uranium was made at the government's weapons fuel 
 production plants in South Carolina and Washington state in the 1950s and 
 1960s and was intended for the use of nuclear power plants. However, the use 
 of nuclear power did not rise as fast as expected,  so the uranium was left 
 there as nuclear waste. 
 However, now there might be a new use for it. An isotope called bismuth-213 
 can be obtained from what physicists describe as "a decay chain" from 
 uranium-233. Bismuth-213 was used by researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering 
 Cancer Center in New York to develop "alpha particle immunotherapy".
 It appears that bismuth-213 can kill leukemia cells without harming healthy 
 cells. Bismuth-213 "is kind of like a little bomb going off that you can 
 target right to that cancer cell,'' said the lab's program manager, Jim 
 Rushton.
 The lab has already completed initial human tests with surprising results. 
 Not only was the therapy safe, but leukemia cells were eliminated in the 
 blood stream and reduced in the bone marrow of 13 of the 18 patients 
 participating in the tests.
 "We really think it has broad implications for the whole field of oncology, 
 not just for leukemia,'' said Dr. Joseph Jurcic, one of the researchers. The 
 researchers don't envision bismuth therapy replacing chemotherapy or surgery. 
 Rather, they see its potential in "cleaning up residual cancer cells that are 
 remaining behind after primary treatments,'' he said. This is no small 
 challenge. Jurcic said only 30 percent to 40 percent of acute leukemia 
 patients are cured by chemotherapy. "The majority of these patients go into 
 remission with chemotherapy, but they relapse because of these residual 
 cells. That's where we think the bismuth is going to be particularly useful.''
 Apparently, there is enough high-powered bismuth-213 at Oak Ridge to treat up 
 to 100,000 cancer patients per year.
 
 CULTURAL ACHIEVEMENTS
 
 Genocide Research Institute Opens in London.

 London, England, July 21, 2000
 BBC
 (By:Juha Uski)
 
 The world's first institute dedicated to research the causes of genocide has 
 been launched in Britain.
 
 The Aegis Institute is located in London and aims to bring together scholars 
 from all over the world to analyze early indications of genocide and suggest 
 preventive strategies. Critical voices point to past experience and claim 
 that failure to prevent genocide was caused by lack of "political will" and not
 lack of information. On the other hand and in any case, this kind of information
 can be a useful tool in teaching non-violence.
 
 The opening of the institute coincided with an appeal from the Secretary-General
 of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, to make the prevention of armed conflict the
 cornerstone of world security. Mr. Annan said that heading off wars was the 
 only way to stop a repetition of the carnage of the 1990s, when five million died 
 in regional conflicts.
 
 --------
 
 Ioc Seeks to Revive Ancient "Ekexiria".

 Athens, Greece, July 25, 2000
 AP
 (By Aristides Zinelis)

 The president of the International Olympic Committe, Juan Antonio Samaranch, 
 arrived in Athens for the inauguration of the International Olympic Truce 
 Centre, an organization determined to put an end to hostilities around the 
 world for the duration of the Olympic Games - in true ancient fashion.

 SOCIAL ACHIEVEMENTS
 
 Payment for Nazi crimes. 

 Berlin, Germany, July 17, 2000 
 Reuters 
 (By: Aristides Zinelis )

 German and U.S. officials and victims' lawyers signed a historic final deal,
 to pay 10 billion marks in compensation to hundreds of thousands of Nazi
 slaves and forced laborers. Up to 10 million foreign civilians and prisoners
 of war were used as laborers often toiling under deplorable conditions and 
 worked to death.

 --------
 
 Demonstrators Demand Fair Elections.

 Baku, Azerbaijan, August 5, 2000
 Radio Free Europe
 (By Juha Uski)

 Between 2,000 and 5,000 people attended a rally in Baku on August 5 to demand 
 that the country's authorities ensure that the November 5 parliamentary poll 
 is free and fair. The demonstration was called by 19 of the country's 34 
 parties from across the political spectrum. Some 300 policemen sealed off the 
 square where the demonstration took place but no incidents were reported.

 ------------------------------------
 GOOD NEWS
 Humanist Press Agency
 -----------------------------------
 
 Publishes only news about social, scientific and cultural achievements and 
 progress of humanity. 
 
 Issue No. 29, August 24, 2000.
 
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Humanist Press Agency
Publishes only news of the social, scientific and cultural progress of the human being