*** FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY ***

In the news...

MILLY

(UPI) The City of Chicago is pairing with 7-Eleven to help everyone get ready for Y2K. No, they're not stockpiling batteries and freeze-dried foods. Instead, the convenience store chain will be selling a compact disc and instructional video to teach the "Milly," a new dance commissioned by the city to help everyone ring in the millennium in style. 7-Eleven is even bringing some of its staff to McCormick Place Thursday for dance lessons. What's more, 7-Eleven is rolling out a "Milly" Slurpee, a new flavor.

http://www.vny.com/cf/News/upidetail.cfm?QID=106710

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FIRES

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Lightning, wind, 100-degree heat and low humidity are fueling the fire season in the West, where firefighters face the threat of new blazes as vacationers head to the forests for late-summer camping.

http://www.tampabayonline.net/news/news101a.htm

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SHIPS

MARGATE, England (AP) - A fire aboard a cargo ship in the English Channel burned for a second day Wednesday while investigators tried to determine the cause of the collision that ignited the blaze.

Clouds of smoke drifted over the Taiwanese cargo ship Ever Decent as crew members and firefighters battled the blaze that erupted after a collision with the cruise ship Norwegian Dream. The crash occurred in good weather in a tightly controlled shipping lane.

http://www.tampabayonline.net/news/news100u.htm

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PAGERS

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - Greenville-based Conxus Communications has sent a message to more than 80,000 paging customers they didn't want to get: Your service is being cut off.

http://www.tampabayonline.net/news/news100t.htm

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BANKS

WASHINGTON (AP) - The chairman of the House Banking Committee said Wednesday that Congress must investigate whether the Bank of New York was duped or willingly aided a money-laundering scheme that federal investigators say involves the Russian mob.

In Moscow, Russia's finance minister denied his government was linked to the multibillion-dollar scheme, which has been described as potentially one of the biggest cases of money-laundering ever uncovered in the United States.

http://www.tampabayonline.net/news/news100a.htm

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WASHINGTON, Aug. 25 (UPI) - Reports that the FBI fired pyrotechnic tear gas canisters during the operation that ended the 1995 Branch Davidian compound siege in Waco prompted a Congressman to call (Wednesday) for new hearings into the controversial operation. Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga., sent a letter to the chairman of the House Government Reform Committee and to Attorney General Janet Reno saying the reports raise questions as to whether government officials lied to Congress about what exactly happened at Waco.

http://www.vny.com/cf/News/upidetail.cfm?QID=106713

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GRAIN MARKET

Corn moved slightly higher on indications Japan bought some U.S. corn overnight, around four million bushels, but nothing has been confirmed.

http://www.vny.com/cf/News/upidetail.cfm?QID=106681

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COINS

(GOLD) U.S. Eagle 1 troy oz. $264.00

(GOLD) U.S. Eagle .50 troy oz. $136.00

(GOLD) U.S. Eagle .25 troy oz. $71.00

(GOLD) U.S. Eagle 1-10 troy oz. $31.00

(SILVER) U.S. Eagle 1 troy oz $6.95

(PLATINUM) U.S. Eagle 1 troy oz. $352.00

http://www.vny.com/cf/News/upidetail.cfm?QID=106552

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TELEVISION

HOLLYWOOD (UPI) - Perhaps the most ambitious TV series of all time begins next month on CNN, a 10-part epic covering 1,000 years of history. Titled "MM Millennium," subtitled "Our Past, Our Future, Ourselves," the segments will broadcast once a week from Oct. 10 through December 12. Each 1-hour segment represents one of 10 successive millennia, including the current one.

http://www.vny.com/cf/News/upidetail.cfm?QID=106092

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SPACE

Mir, which is being replaced by the new International Space Station (ISS), is due to fall to Earth next year, burning up in the atmosphere on re-entry before the charred remains plunge into the Pacific Ocean.

http://www.vny.com/cf/News/upidetail.cfm?QID=105950

-- Stan Faryna (info@giglobal.com), August 25, 1999

Answers

Hey Stan -

Thanks for the news bites... I find this clip filled with potential for the suspicious nag in me. The possibilites are an imagineer's toolkit for high drama!

snip- Viktor Afanasyev, Sergei Avdeyev and Frenchman Jean-Pierre Haignere are today busy installing equipment that will allow the station to operate on automatic pilot with remote control from ground operators.

---Mir returns to Mother Russia, totally missing the Pacific, for reasons unknown. Russia's Premeir sets her war machine on high alert.

-- Or....

-- Michael (mikeymac@uswest.net), August 25, 1999.