The Secret Museum of the Air
It's not 9pm on Saturday now, it's 10 o'clock on Wednesday, time for Off the Hook.
It couldn't get much worse, but if they could, they would.
Bombiddley-bomb are the best, expect the worst.
I hope that's understood.
Bombiddley-bomb!
Bombiddley-bomb!
Bombiddley-bomb!
Bombiddley-bomb!
Good evening.
It's another edition of Off the Hook here on WBAI in New York.
This is Emanuel Goldstein.
We have a fun-packed hour planned for you tonight.
And we'll be taking phone calls again, as we always do, at 212-279-3400.
First, some rather interesting news.
The new edition of 2600 has just hit the stands, or actually hasn't really hit the stands yet.
It's hit the first step towards getting to the stands.
But I'm authorized to tell you that there are some very interesting articles in here,
including the day-by-day account of the Steve Jackson trial,
a very in-depth article on cellular phones and how they can be, well, monitored, listened to, altered,
all kinds of mean, nasty, ugly things.
An article on de-scrambling cable, a list of acronyms.
People are always wondering what acronyms mean.
For instance, you will learn that ADN means abbreviated dialing number.
You'll learn that CAROT, C-A-R-O-T, means centralized automatic reporting on trunks.
How many of you really knew that?
Did you know that?
Fiber Optic is here.
Oh, wait, Fiber, you just asked for trouble because I'm going to test you on these now.
So, okay, how about this, DOV.
DOV, data over voice.
That's right, he's right.
Okay, that's very good.
Okay, I'm going to give you three random ones and we'll see how you do.
ETN.
I don't know.
ETN.
You want to take a wild stab at it?
I don't know.
It sounds too simple.
I don't know what it is.
It means, hold on, I lost my place.
ETN, yes, electronic tandem network.
All right, well, you won one, you lost one.
Let's see if you can come out with a winning percentage here.
G-O-D.
Well, it sounds like God.
Yeah, it sounds like God, but it's not God.
I don't think we should tamper with that one.
Okay, maybe we'll skip that one.
We'll skip that one for religious purposes or whatever.
I'll tell you, though, it means global outdial, but we'll have another one in its place.
That's not a real acronym.
Well, that's what, look, this came from, you know, from the phone company here.
Okay, D-P-E.
D-P-E.
See, even these acronyms have fiber optics stumped here, so you know they're good.
You know they're interesting and great for parties and things like that.
D-P-E, you want to take a stab at it?
Give up completely, huh?
Yeah.
It means destination.
No, I'm sorry, wrong one.
It means data path extender.
So, just one of the many acronyms that you'll learn and will be able to impress people with.
And all kinds of other things as well.
The usual beige box information, some White House internal workings.
All in the spring 1993 edition of 2600, which will be the first edition that those of you that subscribe to WBAI in the last marathon will get as our way of saying thanks.
That is, if you subscribe during this radio program.
And if you didn't subscribe, and if you don't subscribe to the magazine, you'll have to fight the mobs out there in the street for those few places that do have it.
So, that's the exciting news.
That's been keeping me occupied.
Now, there's also a couple other things that are happening.
First of all, last week we learned something new concerning the Washington, D.C. 2600 meeting upheaval, which occurred in November.
And this comes to us from Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility by way of Dave Bannisar.
He says,
One month after being sued under the Freedom of Information Act, the Secret Service has officially acknowledged that it possesses, quote,
information relating to the breakup of a meeting of individuals at the Pentagon City Mall in Arlington, Virginia, unquote.
The admission contained in a letter to CPSR confirms widespread suspicions that the agency played a role in the detention and search of individuals affiliated with 2600 Magazine at the suburban Washington Mall on November 6, 1992.
CPSR filed suit against the Secret Service on February 4, after the agency failed to respond to the organization's FOIA request.
That's the cool way of saying Freedom of Information Act, F-O-I-A, just say FOIA.
It's one of those 90s words.
So, they refused to, or failed to respond to the organization's FOIA request within the statutory time limit.
In its recent response, the Secret Service released copies of three news clippings concerning the Pentagon City incident, but withheld other information, and get this,
because the documents in the requested file contain information compiled for law enforcement purposes.
While the agency asserts that it possesses no documentation created by the Secret Service chronicling, reporting, or describing the breakup of the meeting,
it does admit to possessing information provided to the Secret Service by a confidential source, which is information relating to the breakup of the meeting.
Federal agencies classify other law enforcement agencies and corporate entities, as well as individuals, as confidential sources.
The propriety of the Secret Service's decision to withhold the material will be determined in CPSR's pending federal lawsuit.
And, that's the latest as far as that goes.
They know something.
They're telling us they know something.
They're not telling us what they know, because to do that would be to violate the trust of the people that told them what they know.
So, that's what we know right now.
Yeah.
Okay, let's take a look at some of the news happenings, and we'll be going to the phones, hopefully as soon as we possibly can.
More prison trouble, dated February 26th.
An attempt by Oklahoma County officials to fix their troubled jail's malfunctioning computer system failed recently.
Prisoners remained locked inside their cells for the fourth consecutive day in the $54 million 12-story jail that opened in November 1991.
Oklahoma County Sheriff J.D. Sharp tells us,
Everything is just like it was.
The computers are still down.
We have an open facility.
Some doors are locked open, and some doors are locked closed, both inside and outside the facility.
Twenty-two jailers were trapped from 10 a.m. to 6.30 p.m. inside a jail control room when the controlling computers shut down following a five-minute power outage.
Guards since then have been manually opening and closing the prisoner's cell doors.
Computer software purchased by jail officials at a cost of $4,836 and installed very recently, after this problem occurred, did not fix the jail's problems.
Oklahoma County commissioners had an emergency meeting to approve the purchase of that computer diagnostic equipment and to consider additional equipment needed to deal with the county's latest jail crisis.
Officials were not certain what caused the computers to shut down.
Engineer Ted McCurry said,
We're taking it one step at a time, but every time we round one corner, we run into another problem.
Slowly but surely, we're getting it back, but we will still need outside help.
The technician who built the computer system is supposed to fly into Oklahoma City from Denver to assess the problem and recommend a solution.
The sheriff says,
I'm extremely frustrated. I've never seen anything like it. It is a real touchy situation here.
I can imagine when you have some prisoners locked in and some prisoners who are outside, locked out.
Touchy situation.
I don't know what it is with jails and software. They just don't seem to mix.
This is about the 14th story I've read along these lines.
Here's something out of The Guardian in the United Kingdom.
A schoolboy computer hacker caused chaos when he dialed into a vital database at a Brussels-based Center for Cancer Research and Treatment.
Paul Bedworth allegedly ran a rogue program that generated 50,000 phone calls.
Whew, that's a rogue, all right.
Caused the computer system at the European Organization for the Research and Treatment of Cancer to crash.
In the process, Mr. Bedworth, who is now 19 and a student of artificial intelligence at Edinburgh University,
left the Center with a 10,000-pound phone bill.
It's about 14,000 U.S. dollars.
This trial is being prepared even as we speak.
Bill collection agencies in England began lacing their invoices with a product containing androstanone,
which is a chemical secreted from men's armpits and groins that is known to be a sex-attractant in some species.
Certainly not female species, I don't think.
In one preliminary study, mailed invoices treated with the product resulted in a 14% higher payment rate than untreated bills.
How did they think of these things?
Incredible.
A patient in Manchester Royal Infirmary in England was found unconscious
after she mixed up the nurse's call button with the one to give herself more painkiller
and pressed the latter button impatiently for several minutes.
It's not funny.
People laughing here.
I don't think it's funny pressing the wrong button like that.
Although, can you imagine being given a button that automatically ingests painkiller into you?
I mean, I'm sure they'll be lining up in the street outside for a button like that.
What are they thinking in these hospitals?
How about a button for pain on one side?
Just so you can test it, so you can see if the painkiller works, you know?
Let's give a little pain here, a little painkiller, and...
I don't know.
Scientific study there.
Now, this is something that begs a little further study, I suppose.
And maybe we can analyze it here.
How many of you New York telephone customers read your February 1993 hello notice,
which is sent out in every bill?
On the February 1993 hello notice, which was distributed with the monthly phone bill,
there was an informative little piece about Circuit 9.
Never heard of Circuit 9.
And, Fiber, do you ever hear of Circuit 9 before this?
Not until I read it in the hello newsletter.
Yeah.
And it's rare that we read anything and learn something in the hello newsletter that we don't already know.
But according to that, this service allows business subscribers to identify a caller's billing telephone number,
even if the number is not published in the telephone directory.
All right.
Yeah, nothing new there was Annie caller ID.
Well, Circuit 9 services are assigned to the 910 exchange in the 212 and 718 area codes,
920 elsewhere in New York State,
and 880 in area code 900.
Now, the Circuit 9 exchange 880 is actually a, I'm not sure what they mean here, a fee per call.
I assume they mean fee and not free.
It's a fee per call 900 number, which have long had the ability to receive calling number information.
Now, according to this contributor to the Risks Digest,
there are important limitations on the ways in which businesses that obtain your phone number through Circuit 9 service may use this information.
For example, they may use your number to route or screen calls or to obtain billing information about your account with them.
However, subject to certain exceptions, businesses that obtain your phone number through Circuit 9 service may not use your number to establish telemarketing lists
or to conduct outgoing telemarketing calls without your consent.
Now, they negate all that by saying subject to certain exceptions.
Well, I mean, why have a rule if it's subject to certain exceptions?
So, some companies apparently can use Circuit 9 service to use your number for telemarketing lists and outgoing telemarketing calls.
But, for the most part, it's frowned upon.
However, if you believe a business has misused the information they obtained through Circuit 9 service,
you have to know that they use Circuit 9 service, whatever that is,
you have to call a special toll-free number to report them.
Call 1-800-729-8924, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Now, in addition, the notice goes on to tell you you can have these calls blocked by calling your service representative,
and doing so will also block exchanges 394, 540, 550, 970, 976, and area codes 700 and 900.
Actually, I think you can designate some, not all of those, but that's part of the whole blocking technique that they use here.
So, now we have the 9-1-0 exchange and the 9-2-0 exchange elsewhere outside of 2-1-2 and 7-1-8.
These exchanges, they don't cost anything to call, toll-free exchanges.
However, the people who pick up the phone on the other end, the companies that pick up the phone on the other end,
will be able to tell your phone number, but not through caller ID technology.
Any idea what kind of technology this is?
Yes, it's A&I technology.
A&I.
Yes, it is.
Why don't they call it A&I, then?
Why are they calling it Circuit 9?
What is this nonsense?
My hypothesis is that the reason why we never heard of this before is that it was hastily thrown together
because they're simply not going to have signaling system 7 ready, along with caller ID,
as soon as they're telling people that they are, which is April 1st, which is impossible.
So I think they threw this A&I service together, which the only redeeming quality about it is that it would have to be cheaper
than just getting a full-fledged Watts 800 number with A&I.
Well, if anybody knows a company with a 9-1-0 or 9-2-0 number outside 2-1-2 and 7-1-8, let us know
because we'd like to experiment with this a little bit and see just what they're up to.
But that's a new one on me, Circuit 9.
I mean, Circuit 9, where's Circuit 8?
What does the 9 mean?
Any idea?
Nobody knows.
Okay, here's something out of Israel.
The August 14th edition of a Jerusalem local newspaper contains a copy of a letter that Bezek,
and forgive me if I'm pronouncing it wrong, they're the Israeli telephone company.
Bezek mailed this letter to a phone booth, a phone booth that it owns.
The form letter is addressed to Bezek Incorporated at the address at which the phone booth is located,
which is 155 Costa Rica Street.
It informs the subscriber that while in the past its bill was computed by reading a meter,
which made it impossible to obtain a listing of calls made, this will now be possible,
at a fee, of course, something that Bezek did not mention to the phone booth.
The letter carrier delivered the letter by placing it inside the phone booth.
Welcome to the 90s.
Okay, this is from the Oregonian of February 28th.
Bank machine glitch leaves users poorer but empty-handed.
For thousands of people last week, automatic tellers charged their accounts without dispensing money.
Customers who used an automatic teller machine in U.S. banks' exchange system on Thursday morning
may want to take a close look at their next monthly statement to make sure everything adds up.
Thousands of Oregon ATM users who tried to withdraw money between 4 a.m. and 10.30 a.m. Thursday
came up empty-handed even though the machine's faulty computer software
subtracted the money from their accounts anyway.
A U.S. bank spokeswoman assured that all accounts would be corrected by Tuesday.
Mary Ruble, a corporate spokeswoman for the Portland-based company, said
the bank has what is called a redundant computer system that keeps track of all transactions
and has passed the information to all banks who have customers who have been affected.
Ruble said Saturday that 18,000 transactions in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada, and California
were affected on Thursday.
We are aware of the problem, but we haven't been able to clear them all up yet.
We've shifted people from other responsibilities to speed up the correction process.
And what else do we have here?
All kinds of exciting bits of...
Here's another ATM little tidbit here.
According to CBS News, the National Network of Automatic Teller Machines went on the blink early on March 17th.
Apparently, EDS's main computer center in New Jersey was damaged in the recent blizzard and the backup computer center was temporarily being occupied by companies forced out of the World Trade Center as a result of the bombing.
And a rather ominous note to end on.
The most recent issue of Populist Science had a small sidebar concerning new copier technologies that are being used to combat counterfeiting.
According to Canon, their new color copiers include two mechanisms to prevent people from copying currency.
The first is rather innocuous.
The copier can recognize many different currencies and will print a blank image rather than a fake bill.
But the second mechanism...
Ah, the second mechanism.
Each copier embeds a code into the copied image, which is impossible to see.
A special scanner extracts the code, and a computer program then furnishes the copier's serial number,
allowing identification of the registered purchaser of the machine.
Now, I'm sure we don't have to tell you that, uh, that's a good idea for counterfeiting,
but, uh, that little code is going to be embedded on every single copy you make.
So, if one day somebody wants to find who copied a particular leaflet that got passed around and caused a lot of problems,
they'll be able to do it.
I wonder if, uh, if you make copies of the copy, if the code continues to be copied along with that.
Only time will tell.
Keep sending those clippings in.
Keep sending us, uh, news items, forwarding information to us.
So, our address here is off the hook, care of WBAI, 505 8th Avenue, New York, New York, 10018.
And we do, uh, appreciate those cards and letters and all kinds of other things.
So, we have, uh, an interesting phone number to call now.
This is something that I think, uh, a lot of us will, will have fun with.
Let's, uh, get our friend the dial tone here.
There we are.
Let's, uh, give this a call.
Okay, some of you may recognize this number.
Thank you for calling New York Telephone.
To reach the Annoyance Call Bureau, press 1.
Let's press 1.
If you're calling from a rotary dial telephone, please stay on the line.
If this is your first call to our bureau, press 1.
If you have filed a police report and were advised to contact us, press 2.
For information about PhoneSmart call trace or call ID, press 3.
If you have been instructed by this office to report dates and times for an active investigation, press 4.
If you are returning a call to a representative, press 5.
If you're calling from a police agency, press 6.
To repeat these options, press 9.
Okay, we're going to press, uh, 1 and receive a fabulous tip.
For information about obscene, abusive, or silent calls, press 1.
For information about hang-up calls, press 2.
If your calls are life-threatening, press 3.
If you are receiving wrong number or collect calls, press 4.
If you hear a beep sound or a tone on your incoming calls, press 5.
If you are calling to request a change of telephone number, press 6.
Let's press 1.
If you are receiving obscene, abusive, or silent calls, you may find the following suggestion to be helpful.
While the caller is on your line, press the number 6 button on your touchtone telephone.
Hold the button down for just a moment, release it, and say,
Operator, this is the call I want to check for the police.
You may also dial the number 6 and make the same statement when the dialing stops.
This action will normally discourage a caller.
Hang-up immediately and be sure to write down the date and the exact time of the annoying call.
Okay, I'm hanging up immediately and let's write down the date and time of that call.
I don't know who would be silly enough to believe that.
I mean, let's...
That's the tone that's supposed to strike fear into an obscene caller.
They say 6.
Do you have any idea why?
Well, maybe they did some sort of psychological testing on people, and 6 scares people more than others.
You know, what gets me is that they say you can...
If you have a rotary phone, you can just dial 6, too.
It has to be 6 both times.
As if there's some sort of scientific method here that 6 is going to do it.
Operator, that's the number I want to trace.
I don't know.
I want to report to the police.
That's what it is.
I don't know.
This is an interesting one.
By the way, I can't help but notice that our phone is only coming through one ear.
I don't know why that is.
There's an engineer in the house that knows how to make it come through both ears.
Please come in and help us.
But otherwise, we're going to have the callers in one ear and everything else in both ears.
But I guess that's just the way things are.
Okay.
Our number is 212-279-3400.
By the way, in case some of you want to call the Annoyance Call Bureau and play with that automatic menu,
you won't get a person this hour of the night.
And if you have a rotary phone, well, you won't get anything.
But if you have a touch-tone phone, you can have all kinds of fun wandering around their system
and getting who knows what other kinds of tips for things to dial to prevent people from calling you.
So, yeah, that's one of the numbers somebody passed along this week.
Keep passing those numbers along.
Keep exploring.
You never know what's out there.
All right.
Let's go to the phones.
Good evening.
Hello.
Could I ask you a question on the air?
Well, you're on the air.
And actually, you already have asked me a question on the air, which I haven't answered yet.
But go ahead.
All right.
Question is, which boxes currently work?
I assume you mean boxes that phone freaks use.
Well, all boxes work.
I mean, which will work the best right now?
Well, it depends.
What is your goal?
Pretty much to make free calls, to be passed on as a long-distance operator.
Uh-huh.
Well, Fiber, I'll give you this one.
Only because, I don't know, I'll just give it to you.
Okay, I'll keep this really general.
And I'm not encouraging anyone to do this, but since there's only two boxes that are actually real,
and you can pretty much forget any other stupidity you might have picked up on a bulletin board system,
both of these boxes, which I'll leave nameless, currently work.
And I think I should just leave it at that.
Okay.
Well, I mean, I don't know why we have to leave it nameless.
I mean, everybody knows red boxes work.
Okay, yeah.
Red boxes simply play the tones into a payphone, and they work.
That's, you know, it's something New York Telephone is, and all the phone companies are very upset about,
and I don't know, you know, how long it's going to take them to fix it.
But, and it's worked for all time, as far as, you know, those payphones have had the current technology.
It's always worked.
I have one more question.
Yeah.
I currently run a BBS, a bulletin board system.
Yeah.
Do you know how I can get in touch with Kevin Mitnick?
Well, Kevin Mitnick being the dark hacker of Las Vegas and California,
it's, I don't know how you'd get a hold of him, actually.
You might send a letter to 2600, and maybe, you know, it'll get printed, and maybe he'll be able to...
Maybe you just think evil thoughts.
Yeah, he might just appear.
He might just appear.
But no, we're kidding.
Kevin's actually a good person.
I've talked to him a couple of times.
And it's, I don't know a way to get a hold of him, though.
That's, that's hard.
Yeah.
But he'll, you know, he's out there.
Yeah.
He's out there.
And actually, I hear he's a private investigator now.
He's doing some private eye work.
Yeah.
So, you'll run into him.
Thanks a lot.
Okay.
Okay, bye.
And we should stress that we're talking about boxes.
We don't think people should go out there and, you know, make free phone calls just for the sake of making free phone calls.
Go out there and explore the phone system by all means.
That's, that's what exploring is all about.
But if you're just out to, you know, to get something for nothing, I don't know.
There's something kind of, kind of sleazy about that in my book.
I mean, when I was exploring the phone system back in my, you know, real active days, that's what I was doing.
I was looking at internal mechanisms of the system, you know, calling inward operators and things like that.
And, yeah, you know, occasionally you make some free calls and get connected to people all over the world.
But that's just kind of like a side benefit to the knowledge that you pick up.
But if you're just out there, I mean, you might as well just go to the port authority and, you know, look over people's shoulders as they punch in calling cards.
It's no better than that.
All right, enough moral preaching here.
Let's go back to the phones.
Good evening.
Yes, I enjoy your program very much.
Thank you.
I just wanted to respond to the story that you read about from England.
It was obviously the juxtaposition, the wrong placement of the buttons that was at fault in calling the nurse and self-medicating buttons.
Just like to point out that it has been proved that most people in hospital or at home suffer from useless pain that enough medication could prevent
and that people use much less medication when they are in control of it, which is why that person could access the painkiller.
Obviously, there was a terrible mix-up in where it was placed or how it was separated.
But the fault is not in giving people painkillers under their control.
They use much less painkiller when they have control over it.
Well, this is in general, though.
You wouldn't say this of every person, would you?
Well, the studies are very, very conclusive that most people are under-medicated.
They are allowed to suffer too often and for too prolonged a time because people are so afraid of narcotics or morphine that they don't prescribe enough.
And when people are in hospital, say, recovering from something, that it has also been proved that when they are in control of their own painkillers,
they use far less than waiting in agony for the hours to pass until when the doctor ordered it.
So I'm just trying to tell you that it's not the painkiller, that's not a funny thing.
What is dreadful, obviously, is the idiotic placement of the buttons.
Right.
Well, maybe the buttons should be, you know, drastically different.
Right.
That's my point.
Right.
Yeah.
Okay.
All right.
Thanks very much.
Bye.
Okay.
Interesting point.
And, I don't know, maybe a voice-activated, you know, painkiller system.
Instead of a button, you just say, you know, pain or something like that.
Although that can lead to problems, too.
If you talk in your sleep.
Yeah.
If you talk in your sleep, you get injected with all kinds of things.
I don't know.
It's a tough solution.
I don't envy the people that have to solve that problem.
Good evening.
You're on Off the Hook.
Hello.
How you doing?
Yeah.
With the problem in the Soviet Union, which isn't their name anymore, but I think they're
going back to the old name.
Are you guys ready to hack Russia?
The universities?
Well, I'm not sure what you mean by hack Russia.
I'll get back in.
In other words, when they had the big tabalacle there about two years ago.
Uh-huh.
Are you, uh...
Are you talking about the internet?
Yeah.
Well, they're on the internet.
And also any other illegal, you know, international things.
Because, like, you know, you can get away with it on the sense that if they're not a country
anymore for that time being, they can't, uh...
Well, they are a country.
They're Russia.
I mean, when they have a coup d'etat like they did before.
Actually, 15 countries.
Yeah, well, they're heading towards some kind of, uh, of, uh, I don't know, problem.
But, uh, it'll be interesting to see how high technology deals with, uh, any instability
in Russia.
After all, if that country goes to civil war, it's, it's going to affect, uh, a lot more
people than, than the Yugoslavian mess.
Um, will there be, uh, faxes sent into Russia to tell people the truth?
Yeah, yeah, like, you know, yeah, just like, like two years ago.
Yeah, with, well, that was with China, though.
That was, uh, during the Tiananmen Square uprising.
Um, I don't know.
You know, I don't know how that's going to...
Yeah, because everybody except people on BAI, and 13 seem to be, and CNN seem to be just
taking this problem recently as, uh, like, nothing's going on.
Yeah, well, eventually...
Not any superpower, I really am.
Eventually, you know, this, this American attitude of, uh, you know, it doesn't affect
me, so it's not going to matter.
...phone starts to click, makes a couple clicks while it's on the hook.
Uh, do you have any idea what that might be?
Oh, yeah.
Okay, you want to answer that one?
Yeah, there's, uh, a system that the phone company uses called Predictor, and just about
every night, it, uh, goes and tests everyone's phone within a certain area.
Yeah, and there's a couple of the systems throughout the city, and all they're doing
is, uh, pretty much daily checks on your phone during a time when you're least likely to be
using it so as not to disturb you, and if your phone is making noises, it's most likely that
either you have a cheap phone or there's something wrong with the ringer.
Normally, it wouldn't make any noise at all on the hook, but that's the reason if it's
doing that.
I don't know if it's necessarily a sign of a cheap phone.
I kind of like that feature that tells you whenever somebody's picking up an extension.
Yeah, maybe so.
It's a pretty cheap phone.
Okay.
The cheap phones tend to have that.
Uh, that, uh, that, I don't know, that's more sensitive in some way.
Yeah, but there's nothing to worry about.
In fact, uh, they're doing it for you.
Well, thanks.
Hey, uh, you guys got me interested in worms and viruses and all sorts of hackers.
I'm reading, uh, a very interesting book about it called, uh, exactly that, Computers, Worms,
and Hackers.
Uh-huh.
I don't know that one.
Uh, it's pretty good.
It's put out by ACM.
Yeah?
Yeah.
It talks about, you know, the Berkeley thing, uh, the guy in Germany who broke into internet
and all those, uh, those wild military things he was picking up through internet.
Yeah, it sounds like the Clifford Stoll story.
Yeah, that's, that's, that's the book, yeah.
Uh-huh.
Okay.
Uh, thanks a lot.
All right, thanks for calling.
Okay, bye-bye.
Now, you know, it's still possible that there's somebody skulking about in his basement, you
know, tapping lines, tapping, uh, you know, a handset into his lines, and it would still
make that same noise.
Well...
I should point that out, that people, you know, still can be paranoid.
Uh, we're not saying that they, they don't have to be paranoid.
Well, it does, the fact that it's happening on a regular schedule.
It's happening on a regular schedule, either the person is very methodical in the basement,
or it is, as you say, the phone coming.
Now, is that something that, uh, that is endemic to a 5ESS?
No, it's not.
Uh, every, every switch is, uh, tested by predictor, and, uh, every phone line is, is
tested every night.
Not a crossbar.
Oh, yes, it is.
My crossbar wasn't.
In fact, that didn't start happening until they cut over to the, uh, 5ESS.
Maybe so.
Maybe your phone wasn't sensitive, or I don't know what, but, uh, it's, it's, uh,
typical that they do that.
You say that there's, there's other systems as well?
Well, there's, there's more than one predictor system, is what I'm saying.
There's, there's, uh, uh, maybe a little more than half a dozen.
Uh-huh.
And they pretty much, uh, cover the entire city, and they test everyone's phone just
about every night or every couple of nights.
That's an incredible number of lines to go through.
I mean, how, how quickly do they get through this?
Well, uh, considering that each, each line is only tested in, uh, just about a
second, uh, it can, they can test, uh, a lot of them.
Uh-huh.
Well, you see, I've noticed, uh, I have a light in one of my phones that goes on when
something like this happens.
And occasionally I see that light go on, but then it goes off.
But then it goes on again.
It does it about ten times.
Really?
And then finally it goes away.
Now, do they do that for everybody's line, or are they just, uh, you know, waiting around
on, on, on my line for some reason?
No, they, it probably is.
In fact, one of the tests that they do is the polarity check.
And the polarity check, uh, you might recall from, uh, older test numbers in, uh, electromechanical
exchanges.
It's a number, a test number you'd call, and then you'd just hear a series of clicks over
and over, about maybe, uh, ten or so, and then usually it'll cut off.
That sort of test is done, just to test the, uh, voltage on the line.
So, um, that's among one of the typical tests that Predictor does.
Okay, let's, uh, go back to the telephone.
Good evening, you're on Off the Hook.
Yes, hi, uh, I, uh, I recently had an experience with a consolidated Edison.
Um, we...
I feel sorry for you, whatever that experience was.
Uh, sorry, we had received, like, a very large bill, so we had them send a guy out to
check to see if somebody was siphoning electricity off of our meter.
Or, uh, something along those lines.
Mm-hmm.
Um, well, he came out, he looked, he came in the apartment, he looked at our heaters, he
looked in the basement.
And then, I guess a few days later, we got a, a note from Consolidated Edison telling
us that we had been charged at the incorrect rate.
There was a residential rate, and then there was a residential with electric heat rate.
And we have electric heaters, so they had been charging us at a higher rate.
Uh-huh.
But anyway, I had called them just to figure out what exactly they meant by everything.
And while I was talking to the, the woman who answered my call, uh, she basically read
off a list of all the electronic equipment that I had in my apartment.
Uh, she was, I was talking to her, and she goes, you know, like a 50,000 BTU heat pump,
I don't know exactly what number, a couple of space heaters, which I thought was fine,
but then she goes, a TV, a VCR, a stereo, two PCs, a humidifier, and basically told us
all the electronic equipment that we, that we basically owned.
I see.
Now, did you ask her how she knew this?
Well, I was, I was kind of shocked when I first heard this, because I was not expecting,
uh, the electric company to keep records on, uh, you know, what kind of equipment we have.
I can sort of understand that they would like to know that, but at the same time, I feel
that it's just one more case where there's a company that is keeping tabs on people.
Yes, a very big case of that, but did they explain it to you?
Uh, no, I, I wasn't even sure who to call.
This was just a few days ago when I talked to her last Friday.
Actually.
Did you ask, did you ask her, or how do you know that?
Did she?
Well, I figure it was when the guy came out to check the meter and he was in the apartment.
I mean, I guess maybe he just made a quick note of everything we had, and then they put
it in their computer.
Well, that's something I, I think some of our, uh, more activist-minded, uh, friends out
there should look into, see if Connorson does this.
I had never heard of it, and I never even imagined that the phone, uh, not the phone company,
the electric company would be keeping those records.
I don't, I don't see why they would need to know anything along those lines.
That's, uh, that's incredible.
But if you really want to mess up their records, uh, get these, uh, you know, big imitation
microwave muffins and just load your house with all this equipment you don't have, and
then they won't know what to do.
Well, I wanted to know if, like, any hackers or, I mean, I mean, it's just one more target
maybe that somebody should be investigating their computer, because, I mean, I don't imagine
anybody's really, uh, tried to see what they have.
Well, better yet, we, I know there are some employees of, uh, Connorson that listen to
this program, um, why don't you check it out and get back to us, send us some information,
and we'll, uh, we'll pursue it from there.
Do you, uh, have any idea who, like, what agency I might try to contact, or?
Uh, I believe, uh, Connorson is answerable to the, uh, PSC, Public Service Commission.
Okay.
Call them in Albany, and, uh, I don't have their number, but if you call, uh, either call
800-IN-IFMATION and answer the PSC in New York, or, uh, call, uh, Albany Information,
518 area code, and they should be able to help you.
If not, they can certainly guide you to the right people.
Okay.
All right?
Thank you very much.
And let us, let us know what you find out.
Yes, I will.
Okay.
That's, uh, that's a frightening thing, the electric company knowing, uh, I mean, you have
the, the cable company knowing what you watch, you have the video store knowing what tapes
you take out, you got the phone company knowing who you talk to, you got the credit companies
knowing what you buy, now you got the electric companies knowing what your appliances are.
Is there, is there, is there no shame anywhere, no privacy, man, good evening, you're on
the air, hello, yes, hi, you know, I'd like to say that when people call in, they really
ought to have very important things to say, now what I, are you on tape, I'm what, no,
this is real, okay, no, it sounded like you were on tape for a second, no, I'm dead real,
or a live real, I just wanted to make sure, no, no, this is straight stuff, now, listen
to what I'm saying, somebody says, that's a good question, or says, I have a simple
question, every question is important, you know what I mean, by that, uh, token, now
the next thing, that's a good point, to verify my, uh, significance of this call, I will
show you, I just was looking at Mount Rushmore, and they have, uh, Jefferson, Lincoln, Washington,
you know that, you must live in a very high, you know what I mean, yeah, now what I'm
saying is, is there a woman there, no, there has to be a movement in this country, and
it's totally out of the minds of any of the people, now, the reason I brought this
up is, that I'm concerned, even now that I was thinking about this Saturday, um, a list
of people that we have, we go from, uh, Jim Foinder, who has a very good program in science
fiction, to Simon Locley, who's a wonderful scholar of literature, and, uh, current day
scene, and then we go to David Rothenberg, who's quite interesting, even though he gives
me a hard time, and then we go to, um, uh, Paul Gorman, and I feel that the station should
have a woman in there, at least, if not a youngster, also doing a program, now, what
am I saying, we have to have sexual equality on Saturday morning, because people generally
have worked all week, and they need it, now, then we have people calling in and saying that
they hate to hear me talk, they demean me, they never bring up anything I've said that's
wrong, I think you have to admit that a movement to get a woman, like, I was thinking of a Statue
of Liberty, Miss Liberty, could be in the space there that's, uh, between two of the
heads, you see what I mean?
Yeah, thanks so much for, uh, for sharing that with us, but, uh, yeah, yeah, very, very pertinent
points there.
Okay, now let's get back to the subject, that's the end of the break.
Good evening.
Hello, can I ask you a question?
Uh, it's not from Miss Yukaku, is it?
Okay, how do I get in contact with that kid who called before that ran the BBS?
This is Condor.
Call the Secret Service, I'm sure they'll know.
Good evening.
Hello?
How you doing?
Hi, I just want to say that, uh, the, um, information on the ATM breakdown was on the front page of
the Times on Saturday, and I'd like to quote, uh, it says, although only 6% of the nation's
87,000 ATMs were affected by this incident, industry officials said it underscored the
need of fail-safe backup systems, especially since more consumers are using ATMs and becoming
increasingly dependent on them.
Uh-huh.
It also says about 1,800 ATMs were down in California, and an estimated 90% of the ATMs
in Illinois were not working.
And, uh, a lot of this information was got from, uh, was got, was taken from the bank
network news, which is a newsletter based in Chicago dealing with, um, ATMs.
Yeah, well, I, I think it would, uh, take, you know, just common sense to know that good
backup systems are needed, just like, uh, you know, for any computer system, for, for
TV stations, for anything.
You need backups, because things go wrong.
Right.
The only problem is they're fairly expensive.
Oh, yeah, but they're banks, for God's sake, you know?
I mean, if they don't have the money, nobody does.
Yeah, I understand.
But, uh, thanks for, thanks for sharing that with us.
It was in, uh, Saturday's Times, page one, eh?
Page one.
Okay.
Thanks for calling.
Uh, I should read the Saturday Times more.
That's the one day I don't read the Times, because, you know, it's my day off.
But, uh, yeah, think of all the, think of all the vital systems out there.
You know, we just had the bombing at the World Trade Center, and all the TV stations, except
one, went off the air, because they didn't believe in keeping backups.
Now, that's so silly.
They're TV stations.
You know, state of emergency.
What do you have?
You have TV stations.
Now, don't you think in a state of emergency, maybe you might have an emergency, and, and
maybe your, you know, transmitters will, will go down?
If all the transmitters are in the same place, and they don't have any backups, that could
lead to quite a few troubles.
And the same thing with the phone company.
You need backups if, if, if something goes wrong with the, with the switching systems.
You need backups for the ATMs.
You know?
And, and, and translate this down to the individual level.
Back up your hard drive.
Back up your computer systems.
Keep printouts, so that in case, uh, you know, the whole world gets demagnetized, you'll
at least know what was on your discs.
Common sense.
Good evening.
Yes, gentlemen.
Yes.
Uh, how do you get rid of a marketing call?
Uh, when I answer them, I, I usually, I usually say, uh, I thought it was a collection
agency calling them.
Uh-huh.
And they hang up on me right away.
That, that, that, that gets rid of them right away, huh?
Oh, it's better than the telephone with you, right?
And tell them, take me off the marketing list.
Well, uh, did you ever try dialing the number six?
What?
Did you ever try dialing the number six?
It still doesn't help.
Well, we're told that's very effective.
Okay.
Thank you.
Thanks for sharing that with us.
Okay.
Nothing like, uh, a few tips from our listeners.
Good evening.
Hello.
How are you doing?
How are you?
What can we do for you?
Okay.
Can I ask a question?
Yeah, go ahead.
All right.
Uh, essentially a couple things.
One, is there any place on southern Long Island where you can pick up 2600 so you don't have
to go into the city to buy it?
It's funny, you know, you'd think that, that, uh, we'd know where to pick it up, but we don't
because, um, our distributors don't tell us where they sell it.
So it could be, I, I know it's in Barnes and Noble in some places.
I know it's, uh, in Walden's and other places, but I don't know where on Long Island you can
find it.
In New York, it's all over the place.
Yeah, St. Mark's, uh, the bookstore in St. Mark's Place generally has it.
Uh-huh.
Um, secondly, are there any bulletin boards in 516 anymore that carry all the frack issues
and the, uh, you know, the fun and the LOD tech journals?
Well, you know, I don't even know any bulletin boards in the 516 area because, uh, you know,
I'm on the internet now, and when you're on the internet, you just sort of get away from
bulletin boards for a little bit, which I don't think is entirely, uh, the right thing
to do, but it's just, you know, so many hours in a day.
There are bulletin boards out there.
I'm sure you can find it, you know, just ask around, and if anybody passes it on to us,
we'll, you know, mention it here.
A couple of good ones around here, but, uh, they've since, uh, went down.
Yeah, it's hard.
It's a pain to run a bulletin board.
I don't know if you realize that, but you've got to deal with all these people calling up
and, and, you know, misbehaving themselves, and you've got to keep the hardware running,
and nobody, nobody gives you any, uh, any thanks for it.
Oh, I guess that happens.
And lastly, do you know where you can get 6.5 flat megahertz crystals?
Uh, where can you get the, you know, Fiber?
Uh, any electronics distributor, just to name a couple, DigiKey and Mouser, both carry them.
Uh, I had 6.553 megahertz crystals that I was able to get through JDR Micro Electronics or something.
Well, I'm guessing that you want 6.5.
Yeah, I wanted the 6.5 flats because, um, their, the timing is a little better.
Yep, and in fact, it's a lot better.
You can call 1-800-DIGIKey, and you can call 1-800-34-Mouser.
Or, uh, 1-800-34-Mouser.
Yep.
And, uh, I believe the, uh, Mouser prices were probably a little bit more expensive than DigiKey,
but ask for their catalog, and you can compare and contrast.
What are they, like, 3 bucks or something like that?
No, they're about a buck and change, 2 bucks.
They're cheap.
But you have to buy a certain amount?
No, that's, that's for one.
If you buy them in bulk, they'll be, uh, closer to a dollar.
Hmm, yeah, I bought them, I bought, like, 15 of them, and they ended up costing me, like,
2 bucks or the other place, but, all right.
Yeah.
Okay, thanks a lot, guys.
All right, thanks for the call.
Let's, uh, see if we can squeeze in a few more.
Good evening.
Hello?
How you doing?
Is this WBIR?
Yes, this is off the hook.
Uh.
And you, you should turn down your radio, because we are on delay.
Okay, I will, just a minute.
Okay.
I would like to know how you stay on the air.
I have been on to the country for five years.
I am here visiting a friend, and we have been listening to this station for the last
half an hour, and I think it's all crap.
Well, do you care to elaborate on that?
I, you, you tell nothing.
Tell nothing?
Is this supposed to be a source of information, or what?
Well, what would you like us to tell you?
What the hell's going on in the world?
I've been in, uh, the Soviet Union and heard better broadcast than you have.
Well, wait, I'm not sure.
If you could be a little more specific with your criticism, we might be able to address
it.
You want us to tell you what's going on in the world?
Is that what you want?
Yeah, basically that, but what is this radio station?
What is this?
I want to know how you stay on the air.
Okay, wait.
Have you, have you ever listened to this radio station before?
I never did.
Okay.
Well, okay, I'll start there.
This is, this is a non-commercial alternative radio station.
We don't have commercials.
We don't play music 24 hours a day, and we, uh, you know, we don't, you know, repeat
ourselves very often.
Uh, we have all kinds of alternative news programs, alternative views, call-in programs,
uh, information of various sorts.
What you're listening to now...
Well, it is nothing but crap.
Well, you know, you, you can say that as many times as you want, but you're going to have
to define your terms a little bit.
What, what, what do you mean it's nothing but crap?
I mean crap?
Yeah, what exactly do you expect to hear on this station?
I don't know.
I just turned it on.
Like I said, I just got back into the country today, and my friend is listening to this,
and he is saying how wonderful it is, and I said, okay, you know, I don't know.
Uh-huh.
Not, like I said, five years.
Okay, tell me what you, I mean, you want to hear, you want to hear news.
Is that what you want?
No, I want to hear anything that's got anything pertinent to do with anything.
Well, this has got pertinent things to do with, with telecommunications and computers
and technology and, uh, and hackers and things like that.
Now, if that's not your game, then you wouldn't be interested by it, but if you listen to another
program...
How do you stay on the air?
Well, how do we stay on the air?
Our listeners keep us on the air.
Okay, we, we're a listener-supported radio station.
We couldn't possibly have commercials because we wouldn't be able to put on this kind of
programming if we did have commercials because we offend too many, many corporate people,
you see.
Uh-huh.
All right.
Do you understand the basic concept of the station?
I don't know what to say either.
I, I, I, I, I guarantee you I won't listen to this.
Okay, well...
Yeah, I'm not going to say if it's on the air or if it is off the air, but, uh...
Well, I invite you not to listen, but at the same time...
Thank you.
...at the same time, you might want to try listening to another program.
For instance, in 10 minutes, we've got the world news, which, uh, is different than any
other news program.
What about the news?
I can watch that on television.
No, you can't watch this on television.
This is different news.
It's alternative news.
What kind of news is this?
It's, uh, put it this way.
You can turn on every single TV station in New York City and see the same news over and
over again with no difference.
Exactly, okay.
If that's all you want, then this is not the station for you.
But if you want alternatives...
What kind of news do you have that's so different?
Well, let's put it this way.
We live in a, in a huge country in a, in a, you know, extremely exciting world.
Uh, there's all kinds of stories going on throughout the world that you don't hear about.
Things from, from various countries you've probably never even heard of.
Uh, this, this, this station, uh, this station, uh, was, was instrumental in, in uncovering
the Contragate scandal and, uh, various other happenings in Latin America, various things
in Eastern Europe, uh, and Africa.
Okay, this is fine, but what I'm saying, what is the, the rest of your programming?
I mean, it sounds like, uh, nothing.
Well, it's actually a great deal of something.
It's just, I can't possibly wrap it all up.
I'm trying to insult you.
I know it sounds very insulting, but I, I'm trying to figure out what your program is
all about, or what this station is all about.
Well, you see, the program is a microcosm of the station.
The station is actually several hundred people that get together and do all kinds of alternative
programming from, from Irish music to, to gay issues to technology.
Uh, you know, it's, uh, virtually any type of, of, of, uh, philosophy or lifestyle you
can think of is represented at some point on this station.
And, and you can't find another station like this anywhere.
You really can't.
And that's, that's why we're here because, uh, you know, we're the alternative.
I see.
I really can't phrase it any better than that.
You'll, you'll just have to listen and, and see the diversity.
I mean, you've only been in this country for one day.
Uh, no, no, I'm from this country.
I was gone for five years.
Uh-huh.
I'm saying I just came back today.
Are you from New York?
Uh, no.
Okay, well, uh, New York, uh, has had a history of alternative radio, at least with WBA.
And, um, you know, we, we hope to stay here forever, uh, providing alternatives to, to
New Yorkers and people in New Jersey and things like that.
Uh, I'm not sure if, if you ever heard alternative radio before where you were, uh, but, uh, it's
a very important concept.
And unfortunately, there's not too much alternative TV.
Hopefully one day there will be.
Yeah, well, if I get cable, I guess that's alternative to the regular stations too, isn't
it?
Yeah, to a degree.
Not very much of a degree, though.
I understand that.
Yeah.
But, uh, you know, the basic premise is we don't have commercials.
I'm just trying to figure out your whole line of programming, that's all.
All right, well, keep listening.
That's the best way.
And, you know, don't listen to it.
I didn't like it.
All right, well, you know, there's, there's something on this station everybody will hate,
but there's also something everybody will like.
Uh-huh.
Now, do, do me a favor, okay?
Yes.
Over, over the next week, are you going to be here for a week?
Uh, yeah, I'll be here for a couple of months.
Okay.
Over the next week, and don't, don't, you know, take this too seriously, but just try to do
it over the next week.
Tune in occasionally to BAI, all right?
All right.
And just, in another week, tell me if you haven't found something on this radio station
that you like.
All right.
All right?
Just give it a try.
And, uh, excuse me, what's your name again?
This is Emanuel Goldstein.
Are you?
Emanuel Goldstein, and the program is off the hook.
Okay, and you're on when?
Uh, we're on Wednesday nights from 10 to 11.
Okay, 10 to 11.
And since it's 5 to 11 now, I want to get back to the phones, okay?
Yeah, okay, I'm sorry.
Okay, well, thanks for calling.
All right, bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
Well, uh, you know, it's interesting.
I'd like to see what she finds in another week.
Maybe, uh, you know, maybe she'll wind up being a supporter someday.
Who knows?
Whew.
If she is, I wind up with a gold star, that's for sure.
Good evening.
Uh, hey there.
I was just calling to say that I love your program, and, uh, Fiber, um, calling to congratulate
Fiber Optic.
You did real well in PC computing against Don Parker.
I did?
That was about a year ago, wasn't it?
Yeah.
Okay.
Well, that wasn't his picture, by the way.
That wasn't me, and those weren't my words.
So, if you like...
Not, I still, well, I still think that you're representative of a much hipper viewpoint than
Mr. Parker.
Well, I hope so, but, uh, well, some of those were my words, but, uh...
No, you already said it.
You can't take it back now.
Very many of them were not, and that was certainly not my picture.
Yeah, the fact is, they used a model, uh, to, to, to portray Fiber Optic without ever
telling anybody that they were doing this, either in the magazine, or they never even
told him.
Is it a flattering portrayal?
No, in fact, I'm much better looking in real life than the picture.
I see.
Okay.
Um, my, my, uh, my technical question is, do you know of a way to invoke, uh, a callback
feature remotely from a digital PBX?
Ooh, that's a loaded question.
Invoke a callback?
You want to describe a little bit what you're asking?
Okay.
If there, I'm sure there is some sort of a callback feature in digital PBXs that can
find the last number that, uh, uh, that called in and call it back.
I just want to see if it's possible to invoke that feature remotely.
Invoke that feature remotely?
Oh, you're saying if you dial into an outside line, for instance?
Yeah.
Uh, well, I mean, uh, a digital PBX, that's a pretty wide variety of PBXs you're talking
about.
Um, I, I don't know enough about specific model numbers yet.
I'd like to see if there's a...
Well, I mean, there's, there's literally dozens and dozens of different kinds of, uh, digital
PBXs, and if it's something that's going to...
Are the higher end ones, uh, equipped with, uh, callback feature?
If it's, if it's something that's going to interface with the outside world, the only
way it can call back the number that just called it, in fact, the only way it'll know
the number that just called it is, uh, if it was, uh, a local number, it would have
to be connected through, uh, Signaling System 7 to receive caller ID data.
Uh-huh.
Or if it's, say, for instance, uh, PBX, uh, with the Watt service, an 800 number, then
it would have to be connected with, uh, ANI, uh, equipment, and, uh...
ANI?
I'm sorry, what's ANI?
Automatic number identification.
Uh-huh.
It's, uh, for instance...
The caller ID?
It's, no, it, well, it identifies the number that, that's, uh, the person is calling from.
It's a different technology.
It's not the same as caller ID.
You're going to have to wrap this up.
We're running out of time.
We're running out of time.
Yeah.
But, uh, that, that's, uh, a lot more feasible than someone connecting to the SS7 network.
I think you're saying that it's, it's, it's damn likely, if, if it hasn't happened already,
that this is going to, you know, be the case in the future.
Well, yeah.
All they have to do is program into the PBX to give some feature that'll, uh, allow them
to call back the person that just came in on ANI.
It's not impossible.
Uh-huh.
But that would be on a Watts number, though.
It's probably desirable for this to, uh, to happen, right, on a, on a PBX.
I mean, integration into the, uh, into the real telephone system is something I would
think a PBX would want.
Yeah, I'm sure that the capability exists.
Does that answer your question?
Yeah.
Okay, well, listen, thanks for calling.
Bye-bye.
All right, that's going to just about, uh, do it for us here tonight.
The program is off the hook.
This is Emmanuel Goldstein along with Fiber Optic, and, uh, we'll be back again next week,
uh, next Wednesday night from 10 to 11 o'clock.
Stay tuned next for the, uh, rebroadcast of the WBAI Evening News.
The telephone keeps ringing, so I ripped it off the wall.
I cut myself while shaving, now I can't make a cough.
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And in New York, the State Court of Appeals says the New York Constitution guarantees poor women the right to funding for abortions.
With these and other stories, I'm Laura Seidel in New York with Verna Avery-Brown in Washington,
and this is the news for Wednesday, March 24th, 1993.
First, to Verna Avery-Brown with the news headlines and some national news.
The two warring sides failed to reach a compromise this afternoon as Yeltsin met with the chairman of parliament and the head of the constitutional court.
Reformers hope that Yeltsin can hold on until April 25th.
The president has scheduled a plebiscite for that date in order to determine whether or not he has the support of the Russian people.
Meanwhile, workers throughout Russia's coal mining regions announced that they will go on strike if the legislature tries to impeach Yeltsin or block the plebiscite.
Over the past four years, Russia's militant coal miners have repeatedly gone on strike in support of political and economic reform.
If no agreement between the president and parliament is reached by the time the Congress gathers on Friday,
Yeltsin will be faced with his greatest political challenge since the August 1991 coup attempt.
For Pacifica Network News, this is Vladimir Klemenko in Moscow.
Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozarev met with President Clinton.
At a White House photo session, Kozarev told reporters,
It is for Russians and Russian people to pass final judgment and the president calls for vote, popular vote.
And I think this will be decisive event.
Earlier in the day, Kozarev called for the West to undertake a series of steps to help Russia.
Among the measures the Russian foreign minister outlined in his American University speech,
reschedule Russia's debt and unfreeze a $6 billion fund for stabilizing the ruble.
Today's New York Times reports, Clinton is considering working with G7, the seven leading industrialized nations,
to reschedule Russia's $80 billion in foreign debt.
This would relieve the former communist power of some $15 billion owed on interest and principal.
The suspect described as the mastermind of last month's World Trade Center bombing is in FBI custody.
Thirty-four-year-old Mahmoud Abu Halima had been arrested by Egyptian authorities several days ago.
Today, he's being arraigned in a U.S. court.
Abu Halima's brother has denied that Mahmoud had any role in the bombing
or ever worked as a driver for Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman.
South African President F.W. de Klerk announced details of his country's nuclear weapons program
in an address to a special meeting of parliament.
De Klerk revealed the beginnings of a security crackdown on a black opposition group.
James Lorimer reports from Durbin.
President de Klerk confirmed what many in South Africa and in the outside world have long suspected.
He revealed South Africa had a nuclear weapons program
and built six nuclear fission devices throughout the 1970s and 80s.
But he said South Africa had never carried out any nuclear tests
nor had it shared its nuclear technology with any other country.
He said the end of the Cold War persuaded the government to end the nuclear weapons program
and to decommission its bombs.
The Klerk said in terms of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty,
to which South Africa was now a signatory,
he did not have to disclose details of the past nuclear program
but had done so as an act of good faith.
If that was the sweetener, it was followed by a harder message.
The president said Parliament would soon vote on lifting the suspension of the death penalty
that follows recent political killings in which a number of children have been shot to death.
Saying peace should be the priority of all political parties,
the clerk castigated the militant Pan-Africanist Congress, the PAC,
for continuing its armed campaign.
He said 18 members of the PAC's military wing had already been arrested.
He announced a partial military mobilization,
which will launch a more extensive clampdown, but he gave no more details.
For Pacifica Radio News, I'm James Lorimer in Durbin.
Over 400 people took to the streets of Fort Worth, Texas today.
They're protesting the sentence given to a white teenage skinhead
for the fatal drive-by shooting of a black man.
This week, an all-white jury sentenced 18-year-old...