Amerikai Magyar Szó, 1988. július-december (42. évfolyam, 27-48. szám)
1988-09-22 / 35. szám
Thursday, Sep. 22. 1988. 11. AMERIKAI MAGYAR SZO Pentagon charged with damaging ozone layer A leading Canadian scientist has accused the Pentagon of conducting an experiment which endangers the ozone layer in the earth's atmosphere. Physicist Dr. Rosalie Bertell revealed that in September 1985, the U.S. military conducted experiments in the South Pacific designed to break a hole in the earth's atmosphere, in a wideranging interview published last month in the Canadian newspaper Sudbury Star. Bertell said the test was pre-announced, and astronomers were even invited to view the stars without atmospheric interference. The experiment was apparently a success. The hole stretched from Tasmania, Australia's southern island state, to the Australian city of Sidney. "I was in Sidney at the time," Bertell told the Star. "We were supposedly on the edge of this hole they created and there was a very abnormal storm. "It was spring and all the trees were blooming, but they had this ice storm and there was hail as big as snowballs and pointed pieces of ice which broke car windows." After the storm, the physicist said, further reports on the "hole" ceased. "I came back to North America and nobody had heard of it. It was another year before they started talking about the hole in the ozone layer Amnesty Rock Tour Performs in Budapest BUDAPEST, Sept. 7. - A capacity crowd of 81,000 that included Prime Minister Karoly Grosz and other Hungarian government officials attended an all-star concert Tuesday night at Nép Stadium, the only Eastern European stop on the rock tour organized by Amnesty International to promote human rights. Bruce Springsteen, dressed in black, played for nearly two hours. Spectators, many traveling from other countries across the Soviet bloc, sang along with the performer on his opening number, "Born in the U.S.A." Sting, Peter Gabriel, Tracy Chapman and Youssou N'Dour also performed in the eight-hour concert, a rare event in Eastern Europe. Mr. Gabriel at one point spoke in Hungarian to the crowd and urged Rumania to respect the rights of ethnic Hungarians. Mr. Grosz met last month with Nicolae Ceausescu, the Rumanian leader, to discuss the issue of the 1.7 million Hungarian minority living in Rumania. Some spectators held up banners pleading the cause of the Hungarian minority in Rumania and calling for the United Nations to take up the issue. The six-week rock tour, which is to cross five continents, opened in London. in the Antarctic." Scientists who later went to study the phenomena were not given the military's information, said Bertell, who heads the International Institute of Concern for Public Health. Based on the high presence of chlorofluo- rocarbons in the area, scientists concluded they came from consumer products such as air conditioners and aerosol containers, and recommended cutting back on them. Bertell said such bans are only part of the answer, and pointed out that environmental crises cannot be solved if civilian scientists are denied access to information from the main culprit - the military. She also said some 400 nuclear explosions conducted above ground between 1945 and 1963 contributed to the destructive phenomenon of acid rain. A nuclear explosion releases radioactive Beta emitters. These explode on a microscopic level and throw off electrons, which in turn can cause a reaction with the nitrogen and water in the air and can produce nitrates and nitric acid. "So a nuclear blast causes acid rain, quite clearly," she said. Bertell said Canada, and especially the Canadian north, has taken the brunt of nuclear weapons tests conducted in Nevada, the Pacific and northern Siberia. South Koreans Moot to Fu 11 Ties With / lu í iga ry SEOUL, South Korea, Sept. 13 - South Korea announced today that it would exchange permanent missions with Hungary, the first step toward diplomatic relations with a Soviet bloc country since South Korea became a separate nation 40 years ago. The move, praised by ruling and opposition parties alike, comes as South Korea is making several overtures to the Communist world in an effort to expand trade and inch its way toward a closer relationship with North Korea. With the Olympics opening here Saturday (Sept. 17.) athletes and officials from the Eastern bloc have converged on Seoul, with both sides conducting what the South Koreans are calling sports diplomacy hopeful that today's announcement will not be the last. Trade is already under way between Korea and several Socialist countries. South Korea's trade with China is expected to exceed $2 billion this year, while its trade with the Eastern bloc was $240 million last year. Trade with the Soviet Union totaled about $150 million. Trade with Hungary alone last year was nearly $18 million - $15 million in exports and $3 million in imports. MOV IE REVIEW "A WORLD APART" "A World Apart" deals with the struggle against Apartheid in South Africa as seen through the eyes of a teenager. Shawn Slovo, the writer of the screenplay grew up in two worlds. On one hand her parents meet clandestinely with members of the African National Congress, the other they live the life-style of the white middle class in South Africa. This is a prominent family active in the fight against Apartheid. You may have seen Joe Slovo, her father, on "60 Minutes" when he was featured as the white leader of the South African Communist Party. In the film we see him briefly when he says goodbye to his daughter.He is leaving to go underground and in reply to her query tells her that he cannot tell her because he does not know when he will be able to return. Her mother's character is based on the life of Ruth First, also a very active leader in the fight against South Africa's policies. Ruth First was actually killed by a letter- bomb mailed to her, compliments of the South African Government. She is- played by Barbara Hershey who does a superb job. The film highlights the problems visited on children whose parents are activists. It is hard for these children to understand their parents devotion to the betterment of society as opposed to the unconscious neglect of their own children. In a key scene Shawn confronts her mother and tries to tell her how she feels. The mother confines her answers to cliches and fails to understand the needs of her child. She tells her daughter about the blacks who were killed in Sharpesville and the daughter replies "Mother, I know about that, but what about me?" It is a very poignant moment. The picture points up the dilemma of parents, who devote themselves to a cause and the disastrous effects on the offspring. While this is a touching story about parent-children relationships, the picture also shows us the bitter violence and brutality of Apartheid. We recommend this film highly. Don't miss it. GUEST SPOT NIKI LAUDA Grand Prix motor racing champion, proprietor of Air Lauda: The 105 employees of my airline and I had a lovely time at our Christmas party in Budapest, for which I rented the Bellevue roof restaurant of the Duna Intercontinental. There was even a disco! We whooped it up till 4.30 in the morning. DR. JULIUS CEY-BERT Gen Sec, World Gastronomy Council: My research seemed to confirm that the westernmost dishes of Asian cuisine are Hungarian goulash soup and pörkölt. Perhaps this is why Hungary's Danubius Hotels have had such success in the Far East with their gastronomic appearances, GIVE THIS PAGE TO THE FRIEND
