Snippets

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Superspy in the sky could soon be patrolling over British cities to search for hidden terror cells

A Top-secret US unmanned drone used to locate Al Qaeda and Taliban hideouts in Pakistan and Afghanistan could soon be patrolling over British cities to search for hidden terror cells.

The controversial move would allow MI5 and GCHQ, the Government's eavesdropping centre, to step up surveillance operations over the UK. Until now, the £23million Global Hawk aircraft has not been available for foreign sale.

However, US policy has been quietly changed and Britain is now negotiating to buy the drones. America is keen to supply them for British patrols after a string of terror plots threatening the US and its citizens.

A NASA Global Haw

Terror Watch: The £23 million Global Hawk unmanned drone

These include the attempt in 2006 to detonate liquid bombs on aircraft flying to American cities from the UK. It is not known how many drones the UK wants from manufacturer Northrop Grumman, but earlier this year a senior Ministry of Defence procurement official visited the Pentagon to begin negotiations.

Britain would not need to use the drones in Afghanistan and Pakistan because the US already provides full air coverage in the region. Instead, it is believed they will be used mainly for domestic surveillance.

The drones are also being deployed by the US Navy in the Caribbean and off the Florida coast to combat drug smuggling. In Britain, MI5 and GCHQ already use three planes based at RAF Northolt in North-West London to spy on citizens.

The three Britten-Norman Islander aircraft are all fitted with sophisticated surveillance equipment. They have been used to track down terror cells and to locate former Afghan veterans who may have returned to Britain to plot terror attacks.

The aircraft are able to identify suspects using 'voice-prints' of insurgents with British accents that were picked up by spy planes monitoring Taliban radio signals in Afghanistan.

One stumbling block is that permission from the Civil Aviation Authority would be needed to fly the drones in already congested UK airspace. Although the CAA gave the MoD permission to fly another drone over parts of Wales earlier this month, it is understood to be against regular flights because of safety fears.

However, the Global Hawk recently became the first drone to be certified by the American Federal Aviation Authority for use in civilian air corridors with no advance notice.

The drone can stay airborne for 30 hours without refuelling. Last night, MoD sources said the Global Hawk was being looked at for possible military use but any decision to buy the drone would depend on funding.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Party Time ::: Shoaib Malik

This what all Shoaib Malik will miss now :-)

Now I have a BlackBerry, my husband's not the only thing I love to cuddle in bed

To the untrained eye, it might appear we are witnessing an outbreak of unprecedented sexual liberation in the homes of the rich and famous.

Last week, I read with goggle eyes the admission by TV presenter Amanda Holden that there's always a three-way love-in in her bed. Then came the news that Barack Obama and his wife make room in their marriage for a third party, too.

Closer inspection reveals this is not some kind of saucy re-tread of Abigail's Party, but actually evidence of technology reaching into the most intimate corners of our lives: for they are all talking about their BlackBerry handheld computers.

Slave to technology: Jenni's BlackBerry must be by her bedside to recharge, give her messages and wake her up

Now, there are many people who would traduce such miraculous machines, and offer dire warnings that they could spell the end to human interaction, not to mention putting marriages at risk, especially when they are taken to bed at night and pored over like some precious newborn babe.

But, quite honestly, my immediate reaction was: 'Doesn't everybody do it?'

Where else would you keep your precious electronic pet which needs to be nurtured throughout the night?

That's why my BlackBerry sits by my bed every night slurping in the electricity, to be sure of giving me perfect service the next day. And just like a baby, its every squeak must be attended to.

It might be the little alert it sounds when you get a text message, or a call from the son in Australia who desperately needs funds transferring from one bank account to another.

Or it could be the other son who's spending a year in France and might be in trouble, needing maternal assistance right now!

It could be someone asking you, even at a late hour, to do some work. Or it might just be the alarm going off in the morning to wake you. It serves so many purposes.

Him indoors thinks my passion for this little gadget verges on lunacy. I think he's jealous, as I tend to communicate with it rather more than I do with him.

His face takes on a stony demeanour when I sneak a peek after the little red light has warned me I have an email during dinner. But, frankly, he only has himself to blame.

I was once a technological Luddite, going along with the then editor of Newsnight in the late Eighties who became so frustrated with the new computers that had been installed in the office, he tore out all the plugs and re-introduced the typewriter.

Jenni Murray

Blackberry

Gadget fan: Jenni admits she feels lost without her BlackBerry

But my partner, David, insisted. He's an electronics engineer and computer genius. It was ridiculous to resist the march of technology, he warned, then bought me my first laptop. And, slowly, I was seduced.

In the years that followed, into my possession came not one but two computers, then a mobile and then, oh heaven, the Blackberry.

It's instant communication, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, doing exactly what we women like doing best, chatting to our friends.

All of which explains why the worst thing that's happened in my recent history was losing this miracle gadget.

You see, it contains all the information I need to negotiate my life. Contacts, notes and the codes for picking up train tickets. And that's how I lost it at a station.

I was in such a kerfuffle that I must have left it on the ticket machine. I'd planned to edit an article on it while travelling (so useful!). When I got on the train, I fumbled in my bag and my heart could not have sunk further when I couldn't find it.

I borrowed someone else's BlackBerry to call David, sobbing with despair. 'Ah,' he said, with more glee than I felt was decent, 'I gather you've lost your phone'.

It turned out someone wonderful and honest had found it, called 'home' in the contacts list to inform us, and taken it to lost property. That man restored my faith in human nature, but how I missed my little friend for the whole week it was away.

I know I'm not alone in this obsession. Nor do I deny that tinkering with a BlackBerry incessantly in the bedroom may be a barrier to communication - of all kinds - with the person to whom you're close enough to have a real conversation.

I have, I confess, been irritated by a friend whose new boyfriend texted and called her repeatedly during an all-girl dinner of ours. She didn't ignore him, even though we hinted she should. But then, reader, she married him.

And now they do talk, face-to-face, thanks to the BlackBerry. So there.

Friday, April 23, 2010

RD 350 Yamaha

Prashanth picked up a derelict 1985 low torque RD 350 and converted it into a motorcycle that meets specifications for RDs that were sold in the U.S. Photo: R. Shivaji Rao

Twenty-one-year-old Prashanth has restored a 25-year-old Indian RD350 to U.S. specifications

A commercial pilot licence holder, Prashanth has clocked speeds beyond 300 kph in the skies. Not just aircraft, he gets attracted to any machine that moves at a brisk pace. He developed a fascination for the RD 350 when he was 14. Seven years since, he has restored one in a whole new way. Prashanth picked up a derelict 1985 low torque RD 350 and converted it into a motorcycle that meets specifications for RDs that were sold in the U.S.

Armed with a three-year experience of bidding on eBay, he embarked on the ambitious restoration project. He relied on the online auction house for sourcing parts specific to American RDs. “I had been reading up on RDs since I was a ninth standard student. I was drawn to RDs that had gone from Japan to the U.S. Because of my knowledge about these RDs, I could easily prepare two lists — one consisting of essential parts and other performance parts — and start bidding for both on eBay,” says Prashanth.

Despite looking to import a slew of motor parts from the U.S., Prashanth endeavoured to keep restoration costs down. As a result of conflicting objectives, it took time for him to source all the parts. Patience paid off. “I got standard U.S.-spec unsleeved cylinders, high performance Wiseco forged pistons, 33mm Mikuni flatslide racing carburettors, entire crankshaft assembly with original Yamaha conrods and Boyseen fiber racing reeds from the United States for approximately Rs. 33,000.” The crowning glory of Prashanth's fully restored U.S.-spec RD 350 are its DG gold anodised heads.

“A company called DG made these special high performance heads for RD in 1970. It is next to impossible to buy a pair of DG heads on the cheap. Now and then, they show up on eBay for about $ 700 to $1000. But I got them for $ 375.” Still, the amount is five times the price for a pair of RD heads in India. How did Prashanth manage to meet the bills. “For three years, prior to the RD restoration, I had been trading on eBay and saving money.”

Not just Prashanth's bidding skills, the expertise of a master technician has made the successful conversion of this RD 350 possible. Rajkumar, one of the Raju brothers known for their contribution to motor racing, built the bike, item by item.

As the bike had been neglected for long, it was stripped, sand-blasted and powder-coated. “The parts that required chroming were sent to one of the best chroming factories in the city,” says Prashanth. “Epoxy paint was applied on the undersides as an additional measure to prevent rusting.”

The bike is pleasing to the eye, but its value lies in the superior performance of its engine. “India-made RD cylinders made for 30.5 bhp; the U.S.-made ones, for 39 bhp. Additional features such as the expansion chambers, made by Rajkumar, are bound to further the bike's power quotient."

After the engine had been run-in, Prashanth is likely to put the bike on dynamometer to gauge its power. “We expect a 43 to 45 hp at the crank, which is 15 hp more than the Indian high torque RD model." As Prashanth wants the exterior to reflect the bike's new character, he has gone in for a paint scheme and badges that are in keeping with those for U.S.-spec RDs. After many days on eBay, he sourced two 1973 YAMAHA tank badges.

This final procurement completed the quirky and spectacular restoration project.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

The Pill Turns 50: Taking Stock

OrthoEvra contraceptive patch on white compute...

Image via Wikipedia

Christiane Northrup, MD

Board-certified ob/gyn, visionary pioneer, beloved authority in women’s health and wellness, and bestselling author.

Posted: April 22, 2010 12:22 PM

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the birth control pill, a development that ushered in the sexual revolution of the 1960s and gave women unprecedented freedom to explore their sexuality without having to worry about pregnancy. Because of its convenience, the pill remains the most popular method of birth control in the United States. It also fits well with society's view of the female body as something that requires outside control.

Though there are other reliable methods of contraception, birth control pills have been "pushed" by the medical profession as the optimal method of contraception for the last half century. Other methods, for example diaphragms, condoms and fertility awareness, have been actively downplayed even though, when used properly, they are nearly as effective as the pill. These other methods require more education about the body and more active participation than the pill. They are not geared to the average busy doctor's schedule.

Many physicians also feel that women will not use barrier methods of contraception, such as diaphragms, condoms, or fertility awareness because they have seen too many "failures." This is true of some women but not all women. The data show that in the women who are ideal users--who use the method correctly every time--barrier methods and even "fertility awareness" (natural family planning) can be 95 to 98 percent effective. [1]

Optimal use of contraception other than the pill (or an IUD) also requires women to interact consciously with their fertility--and, ideally, to engage their sexual partners in this awareness as well. The reality is that many women still don't have conscious dominion over their fertility, don't appreciate their fertility cycles and aren't in partnerships that respect these cycles either. The pill (and now the patch) is, therefore, an ideal solution for many. We can use it to manipulate our menstrual cycles, avoiding periods altogether or on weekends. In short, it fits our cultural ideal.

The pill is the most-studied medication in history. Unfortunately, because it's made from synthetic non-bioidentical hormones, it has more side effects than it should! Though we have the science and technology to make safer oral contraceptives (OCs) from bioidentical hormones, there is no profit in doing so--and therefore no support for it. None are currently available.
Is the Pill Right for You?

In order to choose the right birth control method for you, you need to decide honestly where you are in your own life--and how much responsibility you are willing to assume over your fertility. Some women don't even want to think about getting to know their times of ovulation and checking their cervical mucus, let alone inserting a diaphragm before each intercourse. That's fine--they often do well on the pill or another "automatic" method. Other women prefer barrier methods, such as diaphragms and I encourage these methods, too--but only in those women who are committed to using them consciously.

When I was practicing, I worked repeatedly with women who had three or four abortions from failure to use so-called unnatural contraceptives; the pill would have been a better choice for these women, given their sexual behavior. But they refused to put anything "unnatural" in their bodies. I counseled that there is nothing natural about abortion when a woman fails to use her "natural" method of birth control conscientiously.

These women, though conscious about food and the environment, often suffer from the mind/body split we've all inherited. They believe that part of being a desirable woman is to be available sexually, without asking their partners to share in the responsibility. This is a shame, particularly given that there are so many ways to express oneself sexually without the risk of unintended pregnancy. I recommend that all women make every effort to put their own sexual and fertility needs first in every relationship. Doing so takes courage and support.

Pill and Sexual Dysfunction

Ironically, research shows that oral contraceptives might actually contribute to long-term sexual dysfunction in some women. The January 2006 issue of The Journal of Sexual Medicine reports that the pill lowers levels of testosterone, even after the women have stopped taking oral contraceptives. Such problems occur because pill users have elevated levels of a protein called sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) that binds testosterone, rendering it unavailable for use by the body.

Low values of "unbound" testosterone potentially lead to side effects such as decreased desire, arousal and lubrication and increased sexual pain. Although some research showed that such problems persisted even after the pill was discontinued, long-term studies are still needed to determine if the problems are permanent. [2] Of all the side effects, what concerns me the most is the potential adverse long-term effect on libido.

Health Risks and Benefits

All women who are on the pill (or the patch) should know about the following effects of the pill, too, in order to be fully informed:

• Oral contraceptives have been a boon for many women, though they may contribute to suboptimal nutrition and an increased incidence of yeast infection in many (the pill has been associated with lowered serum levels of B vitamins and other metabolic changes). [3]

• OCs are associated with a slightly increased risk for cervical adenocarcinoma [4], elevated triglyceride levels [5] and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). [6] Although the announcement didn't get much press in the U.S., the World Health Organization has classified birth control pills with combined estrogen and progestin (as well as combined-hormone HRT) as carcinogenic. (The latest such designation came after the cancer research agency of the World Health Organization convened a group of 21 scientists from eight countries in France in June 2005. Reviewing the scientific literature on the pill and cancer, the group pointed to evidence for an increase in cervical cancer, breast cancer and liver cancer in making its decision, while also stressing that convincing evidence existed for a protective effect against endometrial and ovarian cancers.) [7] Yet other authorities don't think the slightly increased relative risk for breast cancer is significant. [8]

• In my experience, the pill is also associated with mood swings, weight gain and decreased sex drive in many women.

• The birth control patch Ortho Evra and the ring (NuvaRing) are also made from synthetic hormones and have roughly the same effect as the pill, though a slightly higher risk of blood clots.

Going off the pill makes many women feel much better, although not all symptoms always subside.

Health benefits of the pill include lowered risk of ovarian cancer, endometrial cancer, acne and pelvic inflammatory disease. In general, the pill's benefits outweigh its risks for the vast majority of women because the health risks from unintended pregnancies far outweigh any risk from the pill.

Women who are on the pill should take a good multivitamin-mineral supplement containing B-complex. The majority of women who have serious health problems with the pill are smokers. Smokers should not use the pill after the age of 35.

Here's the bottom line: We have the scientific know-how to design safe and effective hormonal contraception using bioidentical hormones, which would most likely eliminate the downside of using the pill. I doubt that we will see these developed for years to come. So in the meantime, if the pill works well for you and you feel good on it, then by all means, celebrate its 50th anniversary with joy!

If, on the other hand, you are on the pill to "regulate your periods" or for some other reason, please understand that the pill does very little to "cure" any underlying hormonal imbalance. It simply puts the ovaries "on hold" artificially until such time as a woman stops taking them.

Taking the pill is an individual decision. It's neither a panacea nor a curse. In the final analysis, it has certainly done far more good than harm!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christiane-northrup/birth-control-pills-turn_b_544647.html

Snippets

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Superspy in the sky could soon be patrolling over British cities to search for hidden terror cells