Plenty of mystery surrounds the sudden death of Anna Nicole Smith, and it looks like we'll have to wait a little longer for definitive answers. "Well, Dr. Quincy! What have you found?"
"So far, I'm pretty sure that she's dead."
"And?"
"That's it. And I'm not 100 percent positive of that."
The coroner in Florida's Broward County Medical Office took the first step toward determining the cause of Smith's death Friday morning, performing an autopsy to figure out what caused the former model and reality star to collapse in her hotel room leading her to be pronounced dead on arrival at a nearby hospital.
Chief medical examiner Dr. Joshua Perper said his initial probe was unable to pinpoint either a cause or manner of death. Perper began his examination of Smith's body at 9 a.m. local time in Fort Lauderdale. He announced during a press conference that the autopsy revelated only "subtle findings" in her heart and gastrointestinal system and that the investigation into her "sudden, unexpected and unexplained" death would take between three and five more weeks to be concluded.
The coroner said he found traces of blood in the 39-year-old's stomach, and a further microscopic examination would be required. He also said that there was "minor trauma" on Smith's back, but he explained that the bruising was the result of Smith tumbling in her hotel bathroom several days before her death.
Officials also ruled out several theories floated to explain Smith's demise. "Yasss. We'll have to wait for the final autopsy results, but so far we're ruling out explosives and dengue fever."
"Chief?"
"Yes, Sam?"
"Dr. Quincy says not to rule out dengue fever."
Seminole Police Chief Charlie Tiger said that there was no evidence of crime and, despite numerous reports to the contrary, no illegal drugs were found in her room at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. Tiger said that prescription medications were found, but he declined to reveal what the meds were for or whose name was listed on the bottles. CNN reported earlier Friday that Smith was taking medicine to treat flu-like symptoms and that the prescriptions were under the name of her companion, Howard K. Stern.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Heard it could be Stern
Rumoured to be mystery 3rd person in room when her son OD'd, and she shouted at that person saying it's all your fault
Interesting the other will beneficiary died first.
That left just Anna and the baby too young to defend herself.
Now Anna dead.
That leaves baby as possible sole beneficiary of millions.
usually deadbeat dads demand DNA test so they can disown kid, this time the wannabe dads are fighting over claiming this mealticket baby.
Once the milliions are hers, she won't be long for this world either, or else the carer will take control of the assets and live the highlife till she comes of age....
#2
anon1, sounds to me like you're on to something: two heirs down, one to go. It is my unfortunate experience that scumbags can be driven to horrific acts over far less.
I've been wondering who is taking care of the baby. And how long it will be before she mysteriously succumbs to SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome).
(forgot to carry the two. sorry.)
It was big news when the rate of melting suddenly doubled in 2004 as ice sheets began moving more quickly into the sea. That inspired predictions of the imminent demise of Greenland's ice and a catastrophic rise in sea level. But a paper published online this afternoon by Science reports that two of the largest glaciers have suddenly slowed, bringing the rate of melting last year down to near the previous rate. At one glacier, Kangerdlugssuaq, "average thinning over the glacier during the summer of 2006 declined to near zero, with some apparent thickening in areas on the main trunk." Trust me, using one year as a dataset for long term predictions is the gold standard for this type of analysis.
I asked the lead author of the paper, Ian Howat of the University of Washington, for some perspective. Here's his take: "Over the past few years there has been a major revolution in the way scientists think about ice sheet response to climate change. Previously, it was assumed that the big ice sheets react very slowly to climate, on the order of centuries to millenia. This is because surface melting and precipitation was thought to be the dominant way in which ice sheets gain and lose mass under changes in climate. However, over the past five years we have observed that the flow speed of the ice sheets, and therefore the rate at which the ice flows to ocean can change dramatically over very short time scales." You mean that weather can get colder too?
By short, he means months or less.
I also asked Dr. Howat about the argument that, since Greenland went through decades of relatively warm weather in the first half of the 20th century without catastrophic consequences, it's unlikely that the glaciers are suddenly going to plunge into the ocean because of the current warming. His response: I can't believe these global warming deniers are actually using historical weather data to argue against the obvious looming disaster. Who do they think they are? Scientists?
"Greenland was about as warm or warmer in the 1930's and 40's, and many of the glaciers were smaller than they are now. This was a period of rapid glacier shrinkage world-wide, followed by at least partial re-expansion during a colder period from the 1950's to the 1980's. Of course, we don't know very much about how the glacier dynamics changed then because we didn't have satellites to observe it. However, it does suggest that large variations in ice sheet dynamics can occur from natural climate variability. The problem arises in the possibility that, due to anthropogenic warming, warm phases will become longer and more severe, so that each time the glaciers go through a period of retreat like this, they won't fully grow back and they will retreat farther the next time."
That sounds like a reasonable concern. But for now, with the glaciers moving in fits and starts, it's wise not to make any sweeping predictions based on a few measurements. Although the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was criticized for not incorporating the recent scary data from Greenland into its long-range projections, these new results seem to vindicate its caution. As Dr. Howat and his co-authors warn: "Special care must be taken in how these and other mass-loss estimates are evaluated, particularly when extrapolating into the future because short-term spikes could yield erroneous long-term trends." Keep trying to use you magic science. Deny it all you want. You can't fool the people. The revolution will not be televised.
#3
"Greenland was about as warm or warmer in the 1930's and 40's, and many of the glaciers were smaller than they are now. This was a period of rapid glacier shrinkage world-wide, followed by at least partial re-expansion during a colder period from the 1950's to the 1980's.
Speaking in a scientific manner about global warming the historic data indicate clearly that we should rapidly and violently complete the hot war with the Caliphate and enter into the cold war with China.
#7
I read an article at CO2Science several months ago where someone had done a carbon-14 test on some tundra bog on the east coast of Greenland that showed temperatures in the Midieval warm period at that location were 20 or more degrees warmer than they are today. Those da$$$$ Vikings and their SUVs!
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/10/2007 18:49 Comments ||
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Mauritania has tentatively agreed to allow safe passage to some 400 illegal migrants, half of whom are believed to be Pakistani, stranded on a boat off its coast, provided Spain meets certain conditions, government officials said on Friday. A Mauritania Foreign Ministry spokesman, Babah Sidi Abdallah, said that there were
For humanitarian reasons, Mauritania has accepted that these people pass through Mauritania, but they will not be allowed to stay here, he added.
certain conditions that Spain must agree to before we can allow these migrants to transit through Mauritania en route to their country of origin, while refusing to outline the conditions. For humanitarian reasons, Mauritania has accepted that these people pass through Mauritania, but they will not be allowed to stay here, he added.
The boat was headed to Spains Canary Islands where the African and Asian migrants hoped to slip into Europe, but was intercepted by Spanish officials after the vessel ran into mechanical trouble a week ago. It has been floating in international waters just off the coast of Mauritania for seven days, as Spanish and Mauritanian officials struggled to agree on the fate of its human cargo, with Mauritania arguing that since the migrants did not leave from that country, it could not take them in.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2007 00:00 ||
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Saudi Arabia has significantly reduced the powers of its absolute monarchy by quietly removing the king's authority to choose his own successor. This landmark constitutional reform, enacted by royal order last October but only disclosed this week, fundamentally changes the way the desert kingdom which controls 25 per cent of the world's oil is governed.
Not really, but it will give the Kremlinologists lots to do.
Until now, the king alone has selected his successor, known as the crown prince, from among the sons and grandsons of King Abdul-Aziz, the founding leader of Saudi Arabia, better known as Ibn Saud. In future, a committee consisting of senior members of the royal family, called the Bay'ah Council, will vote for the crown prince from three candidates named by the king.
Until now, the interior minister, Prince Nayef, had been expected to become king after Sultan. This will almost certainly not happen.
The council is empowered to reject the king's choice and can even impose a crown prince against the monarch's will. It can also declare the king or crown prince incapable of ruling.
"What makes this change important is that, in addition to taking the final decision about who rules out of the king's hands and institutionalising it, it brings stability to the succession process," said Prince Turki al-Faisal, the former Saudi ambassador to London and Washington.
Disclosing the reform in a lecture at St Anthony's College, Oxford, Prince Turki added: "The council, which will be chaired by the oldest son of the kingdom's founder, will make decisions by majority vote on a secret ballot." Prince Turki said the monarchy had "opened the door for more participatory values in Saudi Arabia, in areas such as shared decision-making, and checks and balances".
All 21 surviving sons of King Abdul-Aziz, plus representatives of sons deceased or incapable, will sit on the council. Women are excluded from governance in Saudi Arabia.
The new selection process is expected to be used only after the current crown prince, Sultan, who has served as defence minister for almost 45 years, has become king. The reigning King Abdullah is probably 84 years old and Crown Prince Sultan is about 83, although their exact dates of birth are uncertain.
Until now, the interior minister, Prince Nayef, had been expected to become king after Sultan. This will almost certainly not happen. Prince Nayef, who is about 74, is a deeply conservative figure regarded as one of the principal obstacles to reform.
And he's the reason for this: the other sons and princelings are afraid of what Nayef will do to them if he becomes Sultan. There'll be lots of 'drives into the desert'.
Under the new system, if Abdullah dies before Sultan, Sultan will still succeed him, but the next crown prince will be selected by the new procedure.
King Abdullah established the new council by royal order on Oct 20 last year. Under the new system, Prince Turki himself, who was Saudi Arabia's intelligence chief before his ambassadorial appointments, is a credible candidate for crown prince. He resigned abruptly from his post as ambassador in Washington last year for unexplained reasons.
And now we know why.
Other possible candidates for the throne from the younger generation include Prince Muhammad bin Fahd, governor of the oil-rich Eastern Province, and Prince Khalid bin Sultan, son of the defence minister.
#1
They've seen what happened with their last King. They're worried about what happens if the King has a stroke, or Alzheimer's Disease, or Waldheimer's Disease. It's not as if they elect one every four years, or they have a 25th Amendment.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
02/10/2007 8:03 Comments ||
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#2
A surprisingly sensible development in the Magic Kingdom. Things could still work out badly, of course, but that's true of any system (think how close it came to 'President Gore!)
#4
Maybe it's just me, but I always thought the terms 'Saudi Arabia' and 'constitution' were mutually exclusive. The next to last paragraph sorta confirms that. King Abdullah established the new council by royal order on Oct 20 last year. No mention of how that gibes with the 'constitution'. What one king can set up another king can dismantle without consulting the 'constitution'.
Venezuela's ambassador to Cuba has said the country's ailing leader Fidel Castro has begun eating again as his health improves following surgery. Mr Castro, 80, has recently shown "significant improvement" in his health and his appearance, Ali Rodriguez said.
However, he added that Cuba was ready for Mr Castro's eventual death.
Funny, so am I, and I wish he'd hurry the hell up.
Speaking to Venezuelan state TV, Mr Rodriguez said the key to Mr Castro's apparent recovery of strength was his decision to resume eating. "The problem is that at first he was not eating food, but now he is eating food and that has helped him significantly."
Brilliant. Given his colon problems, I suggest prunes. Lots 'n lots of prunes.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/10/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
maybe some frijoles and salsa with habanero jalapenos as well, jefe?
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/10/2007 0:48 Comments ||
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#2
Why just this morning he was asking for "Brains!"
#3
More funny alive than dead for sure. What if he learned that his demise was just a form of torture so we could post that vulture up here on the burg for 8 more times?
More than 700 United Nations troops have moved into Haiti's largest slum, sparking a major gun battle with suspected gang members. At least one person was killed and eight injured in the operation in Cite Soleil, a coastal area of the capital Port-au-Prince.
UN spokesman David Wimhurst told the BBC that Friday's operation was the largest incursion into Cite Soleil, home to 300,000 people, yet attempted by the UN. There was fierce fighting and heavy resistance from gang members, Mr Wimhurst said.
Troops entered an area of Cite Soleil known as Boston, the stronghold of a gang leader known only as Evans. Evans has been blamed for kidnappings, killings and rapes in the areas under the control of his gang.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/10/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Don't these UNitards know a "surge" is no way to go? I blame George Bush.
#2
Sounds like Evans is qualified for a political job in New Orleans. Precinct captain to start? At least he wont charge a freezers worth of bills. Doing the jobs Americans wont at basement level wages.
One by one, several French writers and intellectuals are making the startling confessions. After decades as committed leftists, they are defecting to the right many saying they've lost faith in Socialist presidential candidate Segolene Royal.
With just 10 weeks to go until the election's first round, Royal still has no platform. She has made gaffes on international affairs, and her popularity with intellectuals and ordinary voters alike has slipped, leaving conservative candidate Nicolas Sarkozy at the top of the polls.
Almost like John Kerry had a sex-change operation and moved to Paris ...
Royal, 53, will take a big gamble Sunday in unveiling, at last, some of her plans for France in a platform speech that will be judged by especially tough standards because she has waited so long to make it.
Until now Royal has been in a listening phase of her campaign, collecting ideas during debates and on her Internet site, where people post 2,500 messages a day. That strategy has given her an image as a rare French politician in touch with the problems of ordinary people. But it has also left many wondering whether the former environment minister's listening is a cover-up for a lack of concrete ideas. And it disappointed some early supporters who put their faith in Royal to reclaim the presidency from the right after 12 years under Jacques Chirac and who want to see France elect Royal as its first woman president.
Recently, some of the most stinging blows have come from people who seemed like Royal's likeliest champions.
Roger Hanin, an actor and author, came out in favor of Sarkozy this week surprising because Hanin is the brother-in-law of late Socialist President Francois Mitterrand, Royal's mentor. Though Hanin said he still worships Mitterrand, he doesn't trust Royal. Royal scares me because she's not cut out for this, she doesn't have the qualifications to be president of the Republic, Hanin told Europe-1 radio. When you love your country, that's scary.
Leftist essayist Alain Finkielkraut blasted Royal's manifest incompetence in an interview with Liberation newspaper, saying he felt closer to Sarkozy, though he did not outright endorse him.
Philosopher Andre Glucksmann backed Sarkozy in a commentary in Le Monde, complaining that the French left was marinating in its own narcissism. Though he said he respected Royal, he nonetheless took a dig at her by saying that the left's emptiness was even greater than her own. Others who praised Sarkozy are writer Pascal Bruckner and Max Gallo, a novelist who once served in Mitterrand's government.
The Socialist leader in the National Assembly, Jean-Marc Ayrault, came to Royal's defense by accusing the intellectuals of waging an insane campaign of denigration and insults against her. Many observers pointed out that several intellectuals backing Sarkozy had already veered to the right in 2002 by approving the Iraq invasion.
The intellectuals' defection from the left may also have something to do with historical cycles. Jacques Julliard of Le Nouvel Observateur magazine pointed out that leftists have not always dominated France's intellectual circles, though they prevailed overwhelmingly in the postwar years through 1975. Since then, the right has made discreet but real gains, he wrote.
The change also has much to do with Sarkozy. The tough-talking interior minister has cultivated a kinder, gentler image recently to woo France's left. In a speech last month accepting his party's nomination, Sarkozy cited several leftist heroes of the past and proclaimed himself a changed man. There are signs his strategy is working.
A group called La Diagonale has gathered 1,000 leftists who plan to vote for Sarkozy including some people who still hold Socialist Party membership cards. There are more and more people on the left who think Royal is either too incompetent or too moralizing, said Geoffroy Didier, an adviser in Sarkozy's Interior Ministry who helps coordinate the group.
Royal is strong on the environment, family affairs and education, and as a mother of four, she cuts an original figure in male-dominated French politics. But she has made a string of gaffes recently that left many wondering whether she has the gravitas to lead a nuclear-armed nation.
When Royal recently praised the speed of the Chinese justice system, critics reminded her of the country's frequent execution of prisoners. Canada's prime minister rebuked Royal after she said she supported sovereignty and liberty for French-speaking Quebec. And she blundered again when quizzed on how many ballistic missile nuclear submarines France possesses she guessed one, while France has four.
#1
Many observers pointed out that several intellectuals backing Sarkozy had already veered to the right in 2002 by approving the Iraq invasion.
It looks like JFM and anonymous5089 aren't the only intelligent Frenchmen... and haven't been. It'll be very interesting to see how this plays out post-election, given how oriented the French are to how their intellectuals think. Wouldn't it be wonderful if France follows in the footsteps of Canada!
Edited for brevity. Hat tip: Drudge
Opponents of Poland's former communist regime reportedly want to pay a posthumous homage to US President Ronald Reagan by erecting his statue in the place of a Soviet-era monument. In an open letter to the mayor of the southwestern city of Katowice, the former anti-regime activists said that the staunchly anti-communist Reagan had been a "symbol of liberty," the Polish news agency PAP reported. As a result, they said, he deserved to become the centrepiece of the city's Freedom Square, replacing a monument to the Soviet troops who drove out the occupying Nazis in 1945. They also said that they wanted the site to be rebaptised "Ronald Reagan Freedom Square."
City hall spokesman Waldemar Bojarun said that Katowice's councillors would consider the issue. Bojarun said that he had "enormous respect" for Reagan. However, he said, the proposal could cost an estimated 500,000 zlotys (128,000 euros, 168,000 dollars) and the city had "other pressing needs."
There are already separate plans to erect a statue in memory of Reagan in the centre of the Polish capital, Warsaw, which would be paid-for from private funds.
Posted by: Dar ||
02/10/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
But, but, Thomas Friedman recently wrote that Reagan actually had nothing to do with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Eastern bloc. He said it was all due to oil prices.
How dare these people who were actually there say otherwise. An esteemed columnist of the New York Times couldn't possibly be wrong. Could he?
My advice, Barak: Avoid Ft. Marcy Park and flights scheduled by Hillary's staff :-)
Let the games begin! Inexperience? Pshaw!
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/10/2007 10:59 ||
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#1
at this point, he's a blank slate: he's everything to everyone - he's a floor wax AND a dessert topping!
wait til you get to know him - if he ever takes a principled clear cut position....Hillary won't be a happy camper this weekend, it's ObamaMania! The MSM is in full swoon.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/10/2007 11:04 Comments ||
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#2
Ask him how he got his Gold Coast home on such a poor financial state to own one.
#5
There seems to be an undercurrent here of nearly sub-conscious dimensions, that says if we can elect a brown-skinned man with an Arabic name , that this will somehow mollify the Islams and show them how nice and tolerant we are.
I don't think so.
If we elect a guy who's middle name is Hussein, the nutbags will just take it as a sign that they are winning.
This is costing me friends, since it sounds bad when you say it out loud.
#11
#5 JD - Sounds like they're not actually your friends, then.
Sorry.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/10/2007 16:46 Comments ||
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#12
#7 Frank - You're right, of course. At least among white leftists.
I've got a clue for these jackoffs: Although I was happy to vote for (Democrat) Douglas Wilder for Governor of Virginia (first black governer elected in ANY state post-Reconstruction), because he was less crazy than whoever it was the Republicans were running that year, I will NOT be voting for Obama (or, as Teddy calls him, Osama).
I don't care if he's black, white, or pink with purple polka-dots - I refuse to vote for a socialist.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/10/2007 17:09 Comments ||
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#13
I don't know, Barbara. I don't think I could ever vote for someone who was lime-green with purple and orange polka dots - even if he billed himself as a "conservative". Obama can run all he wants to - but he may have to run even faster if he gets the nomination. George Bush's track record wasn't the best, but he at least had one. This guy is almost a total unknown. I'd even vote for Guiliani before I'd vote for Barak Obama, and I don't particularly care for Guiliani. Heck, I'd even vote for Tom Tancredo, running as an independent, before I'd vote for Obama. At least Tancredo has a track record.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/10/2007 19:08 Comments ||
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#14
Ha! I've got chunks of guys like this in my stool! I pick my teeth with their bones!
Welcome to the Big Leagues, sonny!
Posted by: Sen Hillary Rodham Clinton ||
02/10/2007 22:18 Comments ||
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House tax writers will consider more than $1.5 billion in small business tax cuts next week in hopes of freeing minimum wage legislation currently stuck in an impasse between the House and Senate. The tax package is less than one-fourth the size of what the Senate passed last week, but it sets the stage for negotiations that could result in the first increase in the minimum wage in a decade. The legislation would raise the wage floor by $2.10 over two years to $7.25 an hour.
The House proposal has the bipartisan backing of Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., and the panel's ranking Republican, Rep. Jim McCrery of Louisiana. The committee is expected to consider the proposal Monday. The legislation would then go to the House floor later in the week.
The tax breaks would be paid for by eliminating a tax loophole that permits wealthy taxpayers to shift income to their children in order to avoid high capital gains and dividend tax rates. In drafting the latest language in the legislation, House Democrats made an abrupt shift from their public insistence just days ago that they wanted Congress to pass minimum wage legislation without any tax relief in it.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2007 00:00 ||
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UNITED NATIONS - The outgoing UN Ivory Coast envoy said on Friday the world body should use an enforcer to teach peacekeepers how to treat women, while combating a lack of urgency and awareness among its staff.
Pierre Schori is leaving his post after two years as the UN secretary-generals envoy to the West African country, where 11,000 French and UN peacekeepers protect a fragile cease-fire between a rebel-heldast, the worlds top cocoa grower, has been divided since a brief civil war in 2002-03. It was quite shocking and at the same time the most rewarding professional experience I have ever had, Schori, a former Swedish politician, professor and diplomat, told a news conference.
Schori said his end-of-assignment report recommended the United Nations create an enforcer to ensure implementation of a resolution requiring peacekeepers to see women not only as victims of conflict but also as actors for peace. You need to train peacekeepers coming from cultures where women are not on an equal footing with men not in order to criticize but in order to illuminate everybody so we are on the same level on UN core values, he said.
Oh no, we'd never want to criticize, no sirree ...
The problem, he said, has to do with, in the worst cases, sexual abuse, exploitation, pedophilia, stuff like that.
We have zero tolerance on this and this must be explained in advance and implemented, he said.
If there's zero tolerance how come it keep happening? And why isn't anything done about it?
Allegations of sexual abuse have dogged UN missions in Ivory Coast, Liberia, Haiti and the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the world body has accused members of its biggest peacekeeping force of rape and giving children food or money in return for sex.
Schori said the gender-awareness enforcer should go to troop contributing countries to set up a special cell in the defence department and, above all, see to it that you get an induction of troops before they go out on a mission.
The gap between doctrine, resolution and implementation in the field is enormous and its detrimental to the peace process, he said. The enforcer should be a man, he added, because everyone else dealing with gender at the United Nations was female.
Nice place for all the young academic feminists with their degrees in Gender Studies ...
I found here, there, some lack of a sense of urgency and of crisis awareness. This is a mission ... dealing with peace and security, life and death, so you can also work on Saturday morning. That was not appreciated by all, he said. Its not an ordinary job, its a difficult but noble cause to be sent out to work for peace development and democracy, Schori said. We cannot preach good governance to others if we dont practice it ourselves.
Which is a cogent explanation why the U.N. gets so little respect, but Mr. Schori won't see that.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/10/2007 00:00 ||
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India`s BMD engineers, riding high after their first successful test of the Prithvi anti-ballistic missile interceptor in November, are now planning an equally ambitious lower attitude test of the system in June, Defense News reported Monday.
'When an Indian interceptor rocket rammed a ballistic target some 50 kilometers (30 miles) above Ballasore in the eastern part of the country on Nov. 27, it demonstrated a capability that is potentially similar to Israel`s Arrow-2,' Defense News said, citing Indian officials.
In June, 'India will attempt to mimic the U.S. Patriot Advanced Capability-3 system with a lower-altitude test of the Prithvi Air Defence (PAD) system,' the report said.
If successful, the June test would give India the prospect of developing its own reliable anti-ballistic missile interceptor that could give Delhi the two-tiered protection of the Patriot and Arrow systems combined.
Vijay Kumar Saraswat, the veteran engineer who is the visionary driving force of the Indian BMD program in the nation`s Defence Research and Development Organization, told Defense News that if the June test was successful it would put India in the same league as Russia and the United States, the two nations with the most advanced and reliable anti-ballistic missile systems.
Saraswat told Defense News the PAD had 'two intercept modes, each designed to hit a target within four minutes: exo-atmospheric, or above 50 kilometers (30 miles); and endo-atmospheric, or lower than about 30 kilometers (18 miles),' the report said.
Defense News said the PAD`s main sensor 'for exo-atmospheric intercepts' was the 360-mile range Israeli-built Green Pine radar. 'India imported two Green Pines three years ago, one in operating condition and one as a kit that it assembled,' Defense News said.
The report said the PAD`s interceptor rocket was 'powered by a liquid-fueled first stage that uses two propellants and oxidizers, and a solid-fuel second stage with a gas thruster that can turn the rocket at more than five Gs. The missile carries active radar sensors to guide it to its target.'
'The system includes one radar that tracks both the incoming missile and the outgoing interceptor, another that helps classify the incoming weapon and sends data to the interceptor batteries, command-and-control computers, and a transmitter to help guide the interceptors,' Defense News said, citing another DRDO scientist.
Posted by: john ||
02/10/2007 11:53 Comments ||
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#2
"Prithvi Proof Puckers Paki Posteriors" John?
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/10/2007 12:03 Comments ||
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#3
Chinese ones as well.
The Chinese have a number of SRBMs based in Tibet that are targeted on India. ABM systems like this would force them to use longer range missiles against India. Unfortunately (for the Chinese) they have few ICBMs and they are all aimed at the US. Their DF-31 ICBM program also seems to be in trouble.
The Indian government has apparently given the ABM program more funding than their IRBM and ICBM programs. They seem quite serious about getting a working ABM system.
Reports of Indian scientists and engineers renting properties in Tel Aviv and driving up real estate prices probably indicates that the Barak-2 anti-cruise missile system (joint development with India and Israel) has started.
Posted by: john ||
02/10/2007 12:30 Comments ||
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#5
Unfortunately (for the Chinese) they have few ICBMs and they are all aimed at the US.
Actually, a little over half of China's limited ICBM arsenal is aimed at Russia. There is no trust between the Chinese military and the remnants of the former Soviet Union. Russia has a large arsenal of ICBMs, including quite a few older missiles that target China. Both (or either) nations can reprogram their missiles for other targets with little difficulty, so it really doesn't matter where they're CURRENTLY targeted.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/10/2007 19:15 Comments ||
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Brain scans that can read a persons secret intentions even before they act have been demonstrated by researchers. In a recent study, the technology was 70% accurate at predicting whether participants planned to add or subtract a pair of numbers. Paralysed people may one day be able to use devices based on the technique to carry out complex actions, the researchers say. However, ethical concerns have been raised about its possible use in interrogation.
John-Dylan Haynes at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig, Germany, and colleagues recruited eight people for their trial and placed each of them in a brain scanning machine that produced computed tomography (CT) images. While participants had their brains scanned, they were asked to secretly decide whether they would add or subtract two numbers due to appear on a screen in front of them. After a pause of a few seconds, they then viewed the two numbers and gave their answer.
Once the computer program designed to interpret the brain scans had been trained on 40-minutes-worth of calculations by a participant, it could predict their calculating intention with 70% accuracy. Haynes explains that the computer program could do this by focusing on the pattern of activity in a brain region known as the medial prefrontal cortex. Its important to see if we can further increase the accuracy of the brain scan tests, he says, adding that it might be achieved by training the computer for a longer period of time.
According to Haynes, devices that pick up on brain activity in this region could one day help people with paralysis more easily perform complex actions such as composing sentences on a computer with thought alone. Previous technology has relied on signals from the brains motor region to enable paralysed patients to write sentences this way. But this involves the tedious task of moving a cursor across the computer screen to select from the alphabet. Haynes says using signals from the medial prefrontal cortex might enable people to simply think of the letter.
Neuroscientist Read Montague of the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, US, says the findings add to a growing body of evidence that decisions can be predicted by observing the medial prefrontal cortex. There are findings now that show that [activity in this brain region] can predict decisions to purchase an item for money or to choose a specific numerical liking level for art, he says.
Brain-scanning "mind reading" techniques raise ethical issues, however, and using such a tool to predict whether or not a person intends to commit a crime, for example, is contentious and should be debated by society now, Haynes believes.
#1
How about running the boys at Gitmo through the scanner before the tag and release program is executed. Then they can verify the test with DNA parts gathered later.
#3
Its important to see if we can further increase the accuracy of the brain scan tests," he says
Good. He noticed. Deciding whether to add or subtract two numbers is not the same as deciding to blow up the infidel vs. going home and settling down, then maybe or maybe not leaving one's wife and kidlings to blow up the infidel later.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Plenty of mystery surrounds the sudden death of Anna Nicole Smith, and it looks like we'll have to wait a little longer for definitive answers.
Saudi Arabia has significantly reduced the powers of its absolute monarchy by quietly removing the king's authority to choose his own successor. This landmark constitutional reform, enacted by royal order last October but only disclosed this week, fundamentally changes the way the desert kingdom which controls 25 per cent of the world's oil is governed.
Venezuela's ambassador to Cuba has said the country's ailing leader Fidel Castro has begun eating again as his health improves following surgery. Mr Castro, 80, has recently shown "significant improvement" in his health and his appearance, Ali Rodriguez said.
More than 700 United Nations troops have moved into Haiti's largest slum, sparking a major gun battle with suspected gang members. At least one person was killed and eight injured in the operation in Cite Soleil, a coastal area of the capital Port-au-Prince.
House tax writers will consider more than $1.5 billion in small business tax cuts next week in hopes of freeing minimum wage legislation currently stuck in an impasse between the House and Senate. The tax package is less than one-fourth the size of what the Senate passed last week, but it sets the stage for negotiations that could result in the first increase in the minimum wage in a decade. The legislation would raise the wage floor by $2.10 over two years to $7.25 an hour. 
