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Archive: January 2008

18/01/2008 GMT 1

US Abortion Rate Lowest Since 1974

latestnews @ 10:35
By DAVID CRARY,
AP
Posted: 2008-01-17 15:46:44
Filed Under: Health News, Nation News

NEW YORK (Jan. 17) - The number of abortions in the United States dropped to 1.2 million in 2005, the lowest level since 1974 and down 25 percent from the all-time high of 1.6 million in 1990, according to report issued Thursday.

The Guttmacher Institute, which surveyed abortion providers nationwide, said there likely were several reasons for the decline, including more effective use of contraceptives, lower levels of unintended pregnancy, and greater difficulty obtaining abortions in some parts of the country.

The institute's president, Sharon Camp, noted that despite the decline, more than one in five pregnancies ended in abortion in 2005.

"Our policymakers at the state and federal levels need to understand that behind virtually every abortion is an unintended pregnancy, so we must redouble our efforts towards prevention, through better access to contraception," Camp said.

The Guttmacher Institute supports abortion rights, yet both sides in the debate on the issue consider its abortion surveys the most comprehensive in the United States because they encompass California, the most populous state. California state agencies do not collect abortion data to contribute to federal surveys.

According to the Guttmacher data, the number of abortions declined by 8 percent between 2000 and 2005, from 1.31 million to 1.21 million. Similarly, the 2005 abortion rate of 19.4 per 1,000 women aged 1544 was down 9 percent from 2000.

Abortion rates were highest in Washington, D.C., New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Florida,

Maryland and California. Rates were lowest in largely rural states: Wyoming, Kentucky, Mississippi, South Dakota, Idaho and Utah.

However, the report noted that the rates reflected the state in which the abortion occurred, thus including nonresident women who crossed state lines to get an abortion.

By region, the Northeast had the highest abortion rate, followed by the West, the South and the Midwest.

One pronounced trend in recent years in an increase in early medication abortion - notably through use of the RU-486 abortion pill. These types of procedures accounted for 13 percent of all abortions in 2005, more than double the level in 2001.

The report said 57 percent of abortion providers now offer medication abortion services, compared with 33 percent in 2001.

"Currently, more than six in 10 abortions occur within the first eight weeks of pregnancy," said Rachel Jones, lead researcher for the survey. "Medication abortion, which provides women with an additional option early in pregnancy, clearly reinforces this very positive trend."

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2008-01-17 14:58:54

Spacecraft Beams Back Images of Mercury

latestnews @ 10:29
Posted: 2008-01-17 20:28:57
Filed Under: Science News

Space.com

Scientists are sifting through their first new views of the planet Mercury in more than three decades thanks to images beamed home by NASA's MESSENGER probe.

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Photo Gallery


Carnegie Institute / JHU / NASA

Probe's Photos Reveal Mysteries of Mercury

Scientists got a good look at Mercury for the first time since 1975 Monday when NASA's MESSENGER probe beamed back 1,200 new images of the planet closest to the sun.

Photo Gallery


Mercury's horizon

Carnegie Institution / JHU / NASA

Probe's Photos Reveal Mysteries of Mercury

During the flyby, MESSENGER cruised just 124 miles above the planet's surface. The spacecraft snapped photos of about half of the estimated 55 percent of the topography that remained uncharted after Mariner 10's mission over three decades ago.

Photo Gallery


Murcury's surface

Carnegie Institution / JHU / NASA

Probe's Photos Reveal Mysteries of Mercury

The photos revealed Mercury's crater-scarred surface. The double-ringed crater seen in the upper right of this image appears to be filled with smooth plains material, perhaps volcanic in nature. The crater is disrupted by a prominent cliff, the surface expression of a crustal fault system alongside part of its southern rim.

Photo Gallery


Craters

Carnegie Institution / JHU / NASA

Probe's Photos Reveal Mysteries of Mercury

The $446 million MESSENGER probe is equipped with high-resolution cameras that can capture images of surface features as small as 300 yards across. The probe is scheduled to make a second pass at Mercury in October and a third in September 2009. Source: SPACE.com

The car-sized spacecraft zipped past Mercury in a Monday flyby and is relaying more than 1,200 new images and other data back to eager scientists on Earth.

"Now it's time for the scientific payoff," MESSENGER principal investigator Sean Solomon of the Carnegie Institution of Washington told SPACE.com after the flyby. "It's just a complete mix of results that we're going to get."

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Photo Gallery


NASA/JPL

Out-of-This-World
Photos From Space

For years, astronomers have been baffled by the source of antimatter. Now, researchers say the matter-annihilating material is generated when stars get ripped apart by black holes or neutron stars. In this image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, thousands of stars swirl around the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way.

In one new image, released today, the planet's stark surface is shown peppered with small craters, each less than a mile (1.6 km) in diameter and carved into an area about 300 miles across. MESSENGER used its narrow-angle camera to photograph the scene, which is dominated by a large, double-ringed crater dubbed Vivaldi after the Italian composer. While the crater was last seen by NASA's Mariner 10 probe, MESSENGER's camera observed it with unprecedented detail, researchers said.

Another new view reveals the first look at the half of Mercury left uncharted by Mariner 10.

"It is already clear that MESSENGER's superior camera will tell us much that could not be resolved even on the side of Mercury viewed by Mariner's vidicon camera in the mid-1970s," said MESSENGER researchers at the Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL) in a Wednesday statement. JHUAPL engineers built MESSENGER for NASA and are managing its $446 million mission for the space agency.

MESSENGER, short for MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging, trained its seven instruments on Mercury on Monday for the first of three planned flybys to guide itself toward a March 18, 2011, arrival into orbit around the small, rocky planet. The mission is the first to visit Mercury since 1975, when Mariner 10 made its third and final swing past the planet.

"These flybys are the only time that we fly by the surface of Mercury at low latitude near the equator," Solomon said.

MESSENGER is due to make a second rendezvous at Mercury in October, then swing by on third pass in September 2009. The probe launched in August 2004 and flew by Earth once and Venus twice during its 4.9 billion-mile trek toward Mercury orbit.

During Monday's flyby, MESSENGER skimmed just 124 miles above Mercury's surface and snapped photographs of about half of the estimated 55 percent of the planet that remained uncharted after Mariner 10's mission. In addition to imagery, the probe is expected to return a wealth of new observations made by its seven instruments to scrutinize Mercury's surface composition, magnetic field, tenuous atmosphere, unusually high density and other features.

"It will take upwards of a week to get all of the data off the spacecraft," said MESSENGER systems engineer Eric Finnegan before the Monday flyby. "Within that week, the scientists will start receiving some of the images of the flyby and processing that data."

Researchers hope MESSENGER's findings will not only answer long-standing questions about Mercury, but also shed new light on how planets formed in the early days of the solar system. The probe will generate complete maps of Mercury's surface, measure the planet's gravitational field and search for any hints of ice at the bottom of permanently shadowed craters near the poles as part of its mission.

"I just can't wait," said Mark Robinson, a MESSENGER science team member at the University of Arizona. "I want to see what's around the corner."

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2008-01-17 17:07:21

Tax Rebates Urged to Rescue Economy

latestnews @ 10:22

AP
Posted: 2008-01-17 21:08:25
WASHINGTON (AP) - United for urgent action, the White House and Congress raced toward emergency steps Thursday to rescue the national economy from a possible recession, including tax rebates of at least $300 a person - and maybe as much as $800. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke endorsed the idea of putting money into the hands of those who would spend it quickly and boost the flagging economy.

All the talk of rescue efforts failed to soothe Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrials plunged 306.95 points, underscoring deepening concern about the country's economic health.

The sudden scramble to take action came as fears mounted that a severe housing slump and a painful credit crisis could cause people to clamp down on their spending and businesses to put a lid on hiring, throwing the country into its first recession since 2001.

President Bush told congressional leaders privately he favors income tax rebates for people and tax breaks for businesses, officials said. Bush spoke with congressional leaders as House aides worked behind the scenes on an emergency package that could also include more money for food stamp recipients and the unemployed.

Aides to lawmakers involved in the talks said the White House is pressing for tax rebates of $800 for individuals and $1,600 for married couples. Lawmakers were likely to settle on a $500 rebate for individuals, said an aide involved in the talks, with details for couples and people with children still being negotiated.

The rebates would likely be limited to individuals with incomes of $85,000 or less and couples with incomes of $110,000 or less, the aide said, speaking on condition of anonymity because no final decisions had been made.

The president did not push for a permanent extension of his 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, many of which are due to expire in 2010, one official said. That would eliminate a potential stumbling block to swift action by Congress, since most Democrats oppose making the tax cuts permanent.

Bush planned to lay out his position Friday, but he wasn't expected to go into specifics. Press secretary Dana Perino said he would demand that any package be effective, simple and temporary.

Bernanke voiced his support for a stimulus package in an appearance before the House Budget Committee. He stressed that it must be temporary and must be implemented quickly - so that its economic effects could be felt as much as possible within the next 12 months. "Putting money into the hands of households and firms that would spend it in the near term" is a priority, he said.

Especially important is making sure a plan can put cash into the hands of poor people and the middle class, who are most likely to spend it right away, he said, though he added that research shows affluent people also spend some of their rebates.

He declined to endorse any particular approach, but he did say he preferred one that would not have a long-term adverse impact on the government's budget deficit.

Bush and congressional leaders from both parties consulted via conference call Thursday for about 30 minutes. Both sides basically were in agreement that they needed to cooperate to do something quickly, Perino said.

"There is reason to be hopeful when the president recognizes there is a problem in the country," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said afterward. She has talked of a package totaling $100 billion or more. House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio spoke of a bill on the range of $100-150 billion.

The rush to swing behind a stimulus plan underscored the political imperative of responding to a growing concern about the possibility of recession.

Senior aides to House Democrats and Republicans said in addition to included tax rebates for individuals, the emerging measure would contain tax breaks for businesses investing in new equipment, increases in food stamps, and higher unemployment benefits. They spoke on condition of anonymity, since the talks are ongoing and lawmakers have promised not to reveal details.

Boehner said he was encouraged, and so did Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md. Hoyer said of his counterpart, "He indicated that he wants to work together to get something done."

Pelosi said she wanted legislation approved within a month and said the government must "spend the money, invest the resources, give the tax relief in a way that again injects demand into the economy, puts it in the hands of those who need it most and into the middle class ... so that we can create jobs."

But Boehner said: "For this bill to become law, it cannot become a Christmas tree" for Democrats to attach their programs. "It's hard to get anything moving within a year, and most of us believe that if we're going toks with her and other Democratic leaders.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., the majority leader, took issue with Bush's scheduling public remarks on the issue before a deal had been struck.

"The president's strategy threatens to unnecessarily politicize the inevitable bipartisan negotiations we will need to quickly enact legislation," Reid said.

The White House took issue with that - and called Reid's office shortly after the conference call to make clear that Bush on Friday would be spelling out his broad principles, not specific legislative proposals.

White House spokesman Tony Fratto said Bush does not believe a stimulus should be offset - or paid for - by any tax or spending changes elsewhere. Some deficit-hawk Democrats have pushed for one but it is not expected to be part of a package.

For now, Bernanke was hopeful the country could skirt a dangerous downturn. "We're not forecasting recession but, rather, at this point, slow growth," he told lawmakers. Still, the toll of the housing and credit debacles will be felt for some time, he added. "We believe we'll see below-trend growth certainly in 2008 and probably early into 2009, as well."

When asked about a stimulus package totaling around $100 billion, he said the impact could be "significant," not "window dressing."

Temporary equipment tax write-off provisions for businesses also could spur spending, which would help the economy, Bernanke said. But he warned: "I hope Congress can resist having a huge list of things" that would weigh down legislation and not help the economy in the short run.

The fragile state of the economy has gripped Wall Street and Main Street and is a rising concern among voters. The situation has galvanized politicians - including those vying to be the next president - and poses the biggest test to Bernanke, who took over the Fed nearly two years ago.

Said House Budget Committee Chairman John Spratt, D-S.C.: "It has become increasingly clear that our economy is slowing down, entering a slump if not a recession." Rep. Dan Lungren, R-Calif., likened a stimulus package to a "vitamin B-12 shot."

In his testimony, Bernanke again pledged to aggressively slash a key interest rate as needed to bolster the economy. Many economists believe the Fed will lower its key rate, now at 4.25 percent, by a bold half-percentage point at its next meeting on Jan. 30. Some critics on Wall Street and elsewhere have second-guessed Bernanke for not taking action sooner and more forcefully.

AP Special Correspondent David Espo contributed to this story.

On the Net:

Federal Reserve: http://www.federalreserve.gov

(This version CORRECTS attribution to aides instead of lawmakers.))

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
01/17/08 21:05 EST

14/01/2008 GMT 1

History of Bluetooth Technology

latestnews @ 10:48

  • The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) is formed with five companies.

  • The Bluetooth SIG welcomes its 400th member by the end of the year.
  • The name Bluetooth is officially adopted.
  • The Bluetooth 1.0 Specification is released.

  • The Bluetooth SIG hosts the first UnPlugFest for member engineers.
  • Bluetooth technology is awarded "Best of Show Technology Award" at COMDEX.
  • First mobile phone.

  • First PC Card.
  • Prototype mouse and laptop demonstrated at CeBIT 2000.
  • Prototype USB dongle shown at COMDEX.
  • First chip to integrate radio frequency, baseband, microprocessor functions and Bluetooth wireless software.
  • First headset.
  • First printer.

  • First laptop.
  • First hands-free car kit.
  • First hands-free car kit with speech recongition.
  • The Bluetooth SIG, Inc. is formed as a privately held trade association.
  • First keyboard and mouse combo.

  • First GPS receiver.
  • Bluetooth wireless qualified products now number 500.
  • IEEE approves the 802.15.1 specification to conform with Bluetooth wireless technology.
  • First digital camera.
  • First MP3 player.

  • Bluetooth Core Specification Version 1.2 adopted by the Bluetooth SIG.
  • Shipment of Bluetooth enabled products hits rate of 1 million per week.
  • First FDA-approved medical system.
  • The Bluetooth SIG adopts Core Specification Version 2.0 + Enhanced Data Rate (EDR).

  • Bluetooth technology reaches an installed base of 250 million devices.
  • Product-shipment rate surpasses 3 million per week.
  • First stereo headphones.
  • Product shipments soar to 5 million chipsets per week.

  • The Bluetooth SIG welcomes its 4,000th member.
  • The Bluetooth SIG Headquarters opens in Bellevue, WA; regional offices open in Malmo, Sweden and Hong Kong.
  • First sunglasses.
  • First watch.

  • First picture frame.
  • Bluetooth wireless reaches an installed base of 1 billion devices.
  • Bluetooth enabled devices ship at a rate of 10 million per week.
  • The Bluetooth SIG annouces it will integrate Bluetooth technology with the WiMedia Alliance version of UWB.
  • First alarm-clock radio.
  • First television.

  • The Bluetooth SIG welcomes its 9,000th member.
  • SIGnature, The Bluetooth quarterly, makes its debut at the Bluetooth SIG's All Hands Meeting in Vienna, Austria.
  • Bluetooth SIG Executive Director, Michael Foley, wins Telematics Leadership Award.
  • Wibree Forum merges with Bluetooth SIG.
  • Core Specification v2.1 + EDR announced.

11/01/2008 GMT 1

Tata's new 'People's Car' might be the future

latestnews @ 05:54

There are many questions surrounding Tata's new "People's Car", not least how it will sit in showrooms alongside vastly more ostentatious Jaguar and Land Rover models should India's largest car maker be successful in buying those two British marques from Ford in the coming weeks.

  • Protests over 'World's cheapest car' by Tata
  • Peter Foster: A natty little beauty of a car

    Tata claims its tiny, four-seater "meets safety requirements and emission norms", yet without air bags and with a stripped-to-the-bone specification, the Nano is unlikely to go on sale in Europe for at least a couple of years and certainly not priced at £1,200.

     
     

    Its influence, however, is enormous and this little car could well change the way all cars are made, sold and owned across the world.

    The world's two largest car makers Toyota and General Motors (GM) have already talked about following Tata into this ultra-cheap and basic market sector in India and China, but more than that, Toyota president Katsuaki Watanabe, says the Nano will force "a revolution in car making".

    He is talking about a new production process that takes days rather than weeks, which his engineers are studying right now.

    Then there's the way cars are owned, as the idea of the completely recyclable, throwaway car becomes an attainable reality. With perhaps a two-year life before they are bought back by the factory for refurbishment or recycling, such cars could be a shared resource available for hire for hours - even minutes - on urban street corners.


    Even the Nano's minute, two-cylinder, 623cc engine is leading the way, with Fiat, Volkswagen, Mitsubishi and GM all working on similar power units fitted to the rear of the car to maximise internal space.

    And whatever the environmentalists think of the idea of millions more cars on the road chucking out greenhouse gases and pollution, the motor industry is serious about these low-cost cars.

    GM is already thinking about production sites in Africa where countries might be able to use the handle of mass car production as a step up into economic growth in much the same way as Henry Ford helped generate prosperity with his original Model T.

  • 10/01/2008 GMT 1

    Man undergoes surgery for facial tumors

    latestnews @ 08:30
    Huang Chuncai is seen on the operating table before his second ...

    Huang Chuncai is seen on the operating table before his second operation to remove his tumours, which currently weigh around 10kg (22lbs), at a hospital in Guangzhou, southern China's Guangdong province January 7, 2008. Huang, a 32-year-old native from a remote village in China's southern province of Hunan, says he is relieved after a part of his facial tumours, which originally weighed about 23kg (50.7 lbs), was removed last year. His second operation will remove another part of the tumours, which weighs 4.5kg (9.9lbs). Huang suffers from neurofibromatosis, which is a genetic disorder of the nervous system that primarily affects the development and growth of nerve tissues.

    Huang Chuncai sits in a wheelchair beside his sister before ...

    Huang Chuncai sits in a wheelchair beside his sister before his second operation to remove his tumours, which currently weigh around 10kg (22lbs), at a hospital in Guangzhou, southern China's Guangdong province, January 5, 2008. Huang, a 32-year-old native from a remote village in China's southern province of Hunan, says he is relieved after a part of his facial tumours, which originally weighed about 23kg (50.7 lbs), was removed last year. His second operation will remove another part of the tumours, which weighs 4.5kg (9.9lbs). Huang suffers from Neurofibromatosis, which is a genetic disorder of the nervous system that primarily affects the development and growth of nerve tissues. Picture taken January 5,2008

    Huang Chuncai cries before his second operation to remove his ...

    Huang Chuncai cries before his second operation to remove his tumours, which currently weigh around 10kg (22lbs), at a hospital in Guangzhou, southern China's Guangdong province, January 5, 2008. Huang, a 32-year-old native from a remote village in China's southern province of Hunan, says he is relieved after a part of his facial tumours, which originally weighed about 23kg (50.7 lbs), was removed last year. His second operation will remove another part of the tumours, which weighs 4.5kg (9.9lbs). Huang suffers from Neurofibromatosis, which is a genetic disorder of the nervous system that primarily affects the development and growth of nerve tissues. Picture taken January 5, 2008

    Huang Chuncai rests before his second operation to remove his ...

    Huang Chuncai rests before his second operation to remove his tumours, which currently weigh around 10kg (22lbs), at a hospital in Guangzhou, southern China's Guangdong province, January 5, 2008. Huang, a 32-year-old native from a remote village in China's southern province of Hunan, says he is relieved after a part of his facial tumours, which originally weighed about 23kg (50.7 lbs), was removed last year. His second operation will remove another part of the tumours, which weighs 4.5kg (9.9lbs). Huang suffers from Neurofibromatosis, which is a genetic disorder of the nervous system that primarily affects the development and growth of nerve tissues. Picture taken January 5, 2008.

    Huang Chuncai undergoes a medical check-up before his second ...

    Huang Chuncai undergoes a medical check-up before his second operation to remove his tumours, which currently weigh around 10kg (22lbs), at a hospital in Guangzhou, southern China's Guangdong province, January 5, 2008. Huang, a 32-year-old native from a remote village in China's southern province of Hunan, says he is relieved after a part of his facial tumours, which originally weighed about 23kg (50.7 lbs), was removed last year. His second operation will remove another part of the tumours, which weighs 4.5kg (9.9lbs). Huang suffers from Neurofibromatosis, which is a genetic disorder of the nervous system that primarily affects the development and growth of nerve tissues. Picture taken January 5, 2008.

    Huang Chuncai eats in his ward before his second operation to ...

    Huang Chuncai eats in his ward before his second operation to remove his tumours, which currently weigh around 10kg (22lbs), at a hospital in Guangzhou, southern China's Guangdong province, January 5, 2008. Huang, a 32-year-old native from a remote village in China's southern province of Hunan, says he is relieved after a part of his facial tumours, which originally weighed about 23kg (50.7 lbs), was removed last year. His second operation will remove another part of the tumours, which weighs 4.5kg (9.9lbs). Huang suffers from Neurofibromatosis, which is a genetic disorder of the nervous system that primarily affects the development and growth of nerve tissues. Picture taken January 5, 2008

    Huang Chuncai poses before his second operation to remove his ...

    Huang Chuncai poses before his second operation to remove his tumours, which currently weigh around 10kg (22lbs), at a hospital in Guangzhou, southern China's Guangdong province, January 3, 2008. Huang, a 32-year-old native from a remote village in China's southern province of Hunan, says he is relieved after a part of his facial tumours, which originally weighed about 23kg (50.7 lbs), was removed last year. His second operation will remove another part of the tumours, which weighs 4.5kg (9.9lbs). Huang suffers from Neurofibromatosis, which is a genetic disorder of the nervous system that primarily affects the development and growth of nerve tissues. Picture taken January 3, 2008.

     

     

    03/01/2008 GMT 1

    Bhutto murder: the key questions

    latestnews @ 07:46
    Bhutto murder: the key questions

    Several days after Benazir Bhutto's assassination, the exact circumstances of her killing remain unclear. The BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Karachi has been examining the differing accounts of her death and the direction in which the murder inquiry is heading.

    THE DIFFERING ACCOUNTS

    Benazir Bhutto
    Many questions remain about Ms Bhutto's murder

    In the immediate aftermath of the blast, police said that Ms Bhutto had safely escaped the attack. But later it became apparent that she had been taken to the Rawalpindi General Hospital's emergency section.

    A seven-member team of doctors which examined her sent a report to the health ministry saying Ms Bhutto had open wounds on her left temporal region from which "brain matter was exuding". The report did not say what caused the wound, apparently because no autopsy had been performed on the body.

    A day later, an Interior Ministry spokesman, Brig Javed Iqbal Cheema, told the media that Ms Bhutto died of a skull fracture caused by a lever attached to the sun-roof of her bullet-proof vehicle. He said she must have hit her head against the lever when she ducked to escape the assassins' bullets. He denied that her body carried any gunshot wounds.

    These differing accounts inevitably fuelled speculation about a possible cover-up at worst, and an attempt by the government to sidestep its responsibility at best.

    The interior ministry's version has been rubbished by Ms Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) which says that she was shot in the neck, and that the bullet exited from the back of her head.

    Party spokeswoman Sherry Rehman said that she was with Ms Bhutto when the attack took place, and later cleaned her body at the hospital. She says that she saw two wounds that were bleeding profusely.

    THE ASSASSINATION OF BENAZIR BHUTTO
    Map
    1. On 27 December Benazir Bhutto addressed a rally of thousands of supporters in Rawalpindi's Liaqat Bagh Park
    2. As her convoy was leaving the park via the rear gate onto Murree road, an assassin opened fire on her car and she suffered a fatal injury to her head
    3. The blast from the suicide bombing that occurred at the same time tore through the crowd, killing at least 20 other people
    4. Ms Bhutto was taken to Rawalpindi General Hospital, but was pronounced dead at 1816 local time.

    WHY DOES IT MATTER?

    A militant in Swat district

    Militants made no secret of their dislike of Ms Bhutto

    One point of contention between the PPP and the government has been the security provided to Ms Bhutto.

    Given Ms Bhutto's status as a former prime minister and her popularity, the government would not like to be seen as having failed to provide adequate security to her, more so since the government itself had warned Ms Bhutto about threats to her life.

    But if the PPP's version is held to be true and the assassin indeed got so close to Ms Bhutto as to be able to hit her at almost point-blank range, then all sorts of questions are raised, ranging from lax security to complicity by elements within the government.

    JUST HOW LAX WAS THE SECURITY?

    At least two pieces of information that have come to light since the assassination suggest that security for Ms Bhutto was indeed lax.

    One is an e-mail she sent to her long time friend and lobbyist in the US, Mark Siegal, on 26 October.

    Police on the streets of Islamabad 3/11/07

    There are questions over the level of security

    She wrote in the e-mail that she had been made to feel insecure by (President) Musharraf's "minions" and had not received the requested improvements to her security.

    She said she was being prevented from using private cars or vehicles equipped with tinted windows. She said that she had also not been provided with jammers to prevent remote controlled bombs or police mobile outriders to cover her vehicle on all sides.

    The other material is amateur video footage that appears to show a man in sunglasses shooting her from close quarters and another man draped in a white robe blowing himself up soon afterwards.

    No security presence is seen in the entire video clip.

    Media reports suggest that the police and rangers guarding checkposts around the exit gate of Liaquat Bagh, where Ms Bhutto addressed the rally, left their posts before Ms Bhutto's vehicle drove out of the park.

    WHY DID MS BHUTTO'S HUSBAND REFUSE AN AUTOPSY?

    Ms Bhutto's husband, Asif Zardari, said that he was contacted by the Punjab home secretary who wanted permission to hold a post mortem examination, but that he refused the request.

    "We know how these autopsies are conducted and how the reports can be manipulated. We also know how she died," he told the media on Sunday.

    In conservative Pakistani society, women's bodies are rarely allowed by their relatives to be subjected to a post mortem examination. It is even avoided in the case of men due to the belief that it constitutes disrespect to the deceased.

    WHY WAS THE SCENE OF THE BLAST HOSED DOWN?

    The scene of the blast was washed with a high pressure hose of the fire brigade hours after the incident, apparently to clean the road.

    The interior ministry spokesman said the spot was washed after all the required evidence had been collected by the investigators.

    He brushed aside observations by the media that the investigators may still have had to revisit the site for verification of evidence they had collected earlier.

    WHAT EVIDENCE IS THERE THAT THE ATTACK WAS ORDERED BY THE TALEBAN?

    After the attack, the interior ministry provided the media with transcripts of a telephone conversation which it said was between a top Taleban commander in South Waziristan, Baitullah Mehsud, and an unnamed person.

    Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf 3/11/07

    PPP supporters disagree with the government's version of events

    The two congratulate each other on a job well done, but Ms Bhutto's name is not mentioned in the brief conversation.

    The ministry spokesman says an audio tape of the Pashto-language conversation can also be provided to the media, adding that the government has Mr Mehsud's voice signature to prove that it is him talking.

    The transcripts were made public on the day an Italy-based news agency - Adnkronos International - quoted an al-Qaeda spokesman, Mustafa Abu al-Yezid, as claiming responsibility for the assassination.

    Shortly before Ms Bhutto's return to Pakistan in October, the Daily Times newspaper carried a statement from Mr Mehsud, saying he was determined to kill her because she was an American agent.

    A senator from South Waziristan who had reportedly passed the statement to the newspaper denied having done so two weeks later, when Ms Bhutto's convoy was bombed in Karachi on 18 October.

    Mr Mehsud's spokesman has promptly denied the interior ministry's allegation, claiming that the audiotape of the alleged telephonic conversation is a fake.

    He has also demanded investigation into the killing by "independent" agencies to identify the actual culprits.

    Bhutto was targeted using laser beam

    latestnews @ 07:39

    Islamabad: The controversy over former premier Benazir Bhutto's assassination has taken another turn with a section of her Pakistan People's Party (PPP) claiming she was targeted with sophisticated "laser beam technology".

    Bhutto's wounds were caused not by bullets but by some sort of laser weapon, 'The Nation' newspaper said quoting sources in the PPP.

    When Bhutto was admitted to Rawalpindi General Hospital shortly after the fatal attack on her on December 27, doctor Musaddiq Khan, who treated her, told a PPP leader that he had seen "such a case for the first time in his life", sources said.

    Bhutto's wounds were not caused by bullets and she had died before reaching the hospital. A part of her brain and blood had spilled out from her head, they quoted the doctor as saying.

    The sources also claimed both the gunshots and the bomb blast in the attack on Bhutto "were a decoy to hide the real shooters".

    The paper further quoted the sources as saying that the militant leader Baitullah Mehsud and the Taliban, blamed for her assassination by the government, did not have such technology.

    Mehsud had sent two messages to Bhutto after the suicide bombing of her motorcade in Karachi on October 19 in which he said that he had no hostility against her and would not make any attempt to kill her, they said.

    The PPP sources said after the suicide attack, the "ambulance also picked up a dead body behind the stage of Liaquat Bagh", the venue of an election rally that Bhutto had addressed.

    © Copyright 2007 PTI. All rights reserved

    02/01/2008 GMT 1

    Freaky photos

    latestnews @ 07:57


    Freaky photos


    71 Things You Can Do

    latestnews @ 07:41
    by Scott Hughes
    Most people aren't Warriors, and I'm fine with it. Most people do things that don't make sense, and I'm fine with it. I've learned to accept the non-sense that fills this world. (Part of being a Warrior is accepting that most other people are not Warriors, and accepting them.) Still, the point is that people do things that don't make sense. They whine, complain, and cry over problems they can easily change. They get depressed over problems they cause for themselves.
    For example, lazy people often whine that they don't make more money. Selfish people complain that they don't have more friends. Many people sabotage all their romantic relationships and then complain that they don't have a lover.
    Granted, sometimes when something bad happens to a person it's purely bad luck. For example, you could be sitting in your well-built home while reading the newspaper and a tornado could tear your home up.
    However, usually when you don't like what's happening in your life, it's your own damn fault. It's your fault if you're fat, lazy, uneducated, lonely, etc.
    In the following, I list 71 things that you can do to be more successful. You choose to do them or not. If you choose not to do these things, then you have no right to complain about your problems; your problems are your fault!
    1. Stop watching television.
    2. Stop eating fast food.
    3. Stop eating pizza and fried foods.
    4. Stop driving places that you could easily walk to.
    5. Read at least 1 book a month.
    6. Take classes in what interests you or your vocation.
    7. Work enough to support yourself, and if needed get a new job or second job to make enough to support yourself. Never stick with a job that doesn't pay enough to support yourself no matter how much you work.
    8. Pay off your debts and don't go in debt. You can pay off your debts if you avoid needless expenses, such as cable, overpriced clothes, impractical decorations, unhealthy snacks, jewelry, etcetera.
    9. Don't buy a car on finance, and don't buy an expensive car if a cheaper one that works is available.
    10. Wake up early, and get all your work done as quickly as possible. That includes household chores, as well as your employment.
    11. Drink alcohol less or quit.
    12. Do drugs less or quit.
    13. Don't smoke cigarettes.
    14. Don't eat foods with high fructose corn syrup.
    15. Don't drink soda.
    16. Don't eat sugary foods at all.
    17. Don't drink more than 1 glass of juice per day.
    18. Stand up straight and have good posture.
    19. Look people in the eyes when you talk to them.
    20. Smile.
    21. Be polite.
    22. Keep your promises.
    23. Wear a watch, if you can afford it.
    24. Eat breakfast.
    25. If you eat cereal at any time, choose your cereal based on healthiness not tastiness.
    26. Exercise at least 3 days per week.
    27. Walk often.
    28. Always write with correct spelling and grammar.
    29. Never speak worse about a person behind their back than you do to their face. (Feel free to say nicer things about a person behind their back than to their face.)
    30. Don't gossip and don't have a big mouth.
    31. Never judge other people harsher than you judge yourself.
    32. Make New Years resolutions, but make one every day instead of every year.
    33. Volunteer.
    34. Forgive, but never forget.
    35. Don't have skeletons in your closet.
    36. Keep as few secrets as reasonably possible.
    37. Despite the rule before this one, keep your friends' secrets.
    38. Politely tell people that you will not betray your friends' trust, when you are asked about their secrets and such.
    39. Volunteering (i.e. activism) is more important than voting. If you can do both, good for you. If you only have time for one, volunteer instead of voting. It makes more of a difference.
    40. Privately question your own values.
    41. Avoid questioning other people's values, especially in public.
    42. Listen more than you talk.
    43. Use a journal to count how many calories you consume per day.
    44. Use a journal to count how many calories you burn per day.
    45. If you want to lose weight, burn slightly more than you consume. If you want to gain weight, consume slightly more than you burn. If you are happy with your weight, try to burn the same amount as you consume.
    46. Weigh yourself daily at the same time(s).
    47. Write your daily weight down in a journal.
    48. Never allow the police to search you, your car, or your belongings if you do not have something to hide.
    49. Never tell other people that you think they or something they are doing is immoral or sinful.
    50. Keep your moral values and religion to yourself. Use them to direct your own actions.
    51. Ask people how they are often and listen to their answer.
    52. Laugh at other people's jokes, but not your own.
    53. Shower at least once per day.
    54. Wash your hands, even if you aren't an employee.
    55. Take care of the elderly, which includes spending time with them and talking to them.
    56. Avoid going places where you need to be waited on.
    57. Wait on yourself wherever possible.
    58. Make your friends look good.
    59. Avoid lying.
    60. Don't pretend to be better than you are. Don't pretend to be more successful, popular, etcetera.
    61. Treat other people as if they are better than they are. Treat them as if they are more successful, popular, etcetera.
    62. Don't brag about your talents. Instead, surprise people with them when they just happen to be called upon.
    63. Sit up straight.
    64. Keep your house clean.
    65. If you have either of them, keep your car and office clean.
    66. Stretch daily. (I do Yoga most mornings.)
    67. Dance.
    68. Take dancing lessons if you could use improvement.
    69. Ask other people (e.g. your friends, your co-workers, your boss, etc.) what their favorite book is, and read it.
    70. Ask their favorite song or band, and listen to it.
    71. Ask their favorite movie, and watch it.
      Extras:
    72. Don't be camera shy.
    73. When your alarm goes off in the morning (if you use one), don't press snooze.
    74. Make a budget and follow it.
      Suggestions from visitors:
    75. Say "I love you" often to the people you feel this way about.
    76. Always turning off lights when leaving a room, unless of course there are others are in the room. For that matter, conserving any unnecessary electricity usage is key to the future of humanity.

    Most expensive pen: $265,000

    latestnews @ 07:06

    Swiss company Caran d'Ache made 'La Modernista Diamonds' a pen that was sold in Harrods, London, for $265,000.

     

    Created in memory of architect Antonio Gaudi, the rhodium-coated solid silver pen has an 18-karat gold pen point and is pave-set with 5,072 diamonds and 96 half-cut rubies .



     

     

    Future Life Style

    latestnews @ 07:01
    Year 3000



    January 1 Happy New Year 2008 with Google and TCP/IP

    latestnews @ 06:15
    WHY THE NEW GOOGLE LOGO?

    Well Happy New Year 2008!
    Did you know? TCP/IP is the basis of almost all Internet communication, and it was adopted by ARPANET on January 1!!!!!! thats why google has the cool logo with internet wire TCP/IP!
    Without all this you guys wouldnt have your high-speed internets, like Comcast, or Yahoo Dsl, or w/e.It was all taken on by Arpanet January 1st, right after new year's(we're almost at 2008 :).It was put into action January 1st 1983

    january 1 tcp/ip switchover

     

    A two-network TCP/IP communications test was performed between Stanford and University College London (UCL), In 1975. In November, 1977, a three-network TCP/IP test was conducted between the U.S., UK, and Norway. Between 1978 and 1983, several other TCP/IP prototypes were developed at multiple computers research centres.

    The full switchover to TCP/IP was performed on January 1, 1983, without too many problems, although a few recalcitrant sites were down as long as three months while they retrofitted their systems.

    The TCP/IP protocol was deployed to the ARPANET network with some persuasion, as noted in the emails at the top of the page. Not all sites were preparing to convert over their protocols, so Cerf, Jon Postel, and the TCP/IP team turned off the NCP network channel numbers on the ARPANET IMP’s for a full day in mid 1982, so that only sites using TCP/IP could still operate. To emphasize the point, they disabled NCP again for two days later that fall.

    In 1984, the US Department of Defense made TCP/IP the standard for all military computer networking, which gave it a high profile and stable funding.

    [livinginternet.com, wikipedia.org]

    what is january 1 tcp/ip? and why it is celebrated ?

    On January 1st 1983, it was first came into existence and today again it reached 25 years milestone of SILVER JUBLEE ! So in the same manner this "january 1 tcp/ip" date should be remember by us forever.

    Might be you wouldn't have seen this post if any kind of tcp/ip had not been invented on 1983.....so cheer up guys and again thanks to Google who always keep us updated about each and every techie movements and events.

    Short for Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, the suite of communications protocols used to connect hosts on the Internet. TCP/IP uses several protocols, the two main ones being TCP and IP. TCP/IP is built into the UNIX operating system and is used by the Internet, making it the de facto standard for transmitting data over networks. Even network operating systems that have their own protocols, such as Netware, also support TCP/IP.
    Need to Know about subnet mask

    There are three levels of TCP/IP knowledge. Those who administer a regional or national network must design a system of long distance phone lines, dedicated routing devices, and very large configuration files. They must know the IP numbers and physical locations of thousands of subscriber networks. They must also have a formal network monitor strategy to detect problems and respond quickly.

    Each large company or university that subscribes to the Internet must have an intermediate level of network organization and expertise. A half dozen routers might be configured to connect several dozen departmental LANs in several buildings. All traffic outside the organization would typically be routed to a single connection to a regional network provider.

    However, the end user can install TCP/IP on a personal computer without any knowledge of either the corporate or regional network. Three pieces of information are required:

    The IP address assigned to this personal computer
    The part of the IP address (the subnet mask) that distinguishes other machines on the same LAN (messages can be sent to them directly) from machines in other departments or elsewhere in the world (which are sent to a router machine)
    The IP address of the router machine that connects this LAN to the rest of the world.

    In the case of the PCLT server, the IP address is 130.132.59.234. Since the first three bytes designate this department, a "subnet mask" is defined as 255.255.255.0 (255 is the largest byte value and represents the number with all bits turned on). It is a Yale convention (which we recommend to everyone) that the router for each department have station number 1 within the department network. Thus the PCLT router is 130.132.59.1. Thus the PCLT server is configured with the values:

    My IP address: 130.132.59.234
    Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
    Default router: 130.132.59.1
    The subnet mask tells the server that any other machine with an IP address beginning 130.132.59.* is on the same department LAN, so messages are sent to it directly. Any IP address beginning with a different value is accessed indirectly by sending the message through the router at 130.132.59.1 (which is on the departmental LAN).

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