War Vets Fighting Addiction

They were prepared for war. They were prepared to die for their country. But Fort Carson soldiers say they weren't prepared to come home and fight a different battle -- addiction to illegal drugs.

Many of this country's bravest men and women who volunteered to defend America in a time of war have come home wounded -- physically and mentally -- and are turning to illicit drugs as they adjust to normal life, according to soldiers, health experts and advocates.

"Lots of soldiers coming back from Iraq have been using drugs," said Specialist William Swenson, who was deployed to Iraq from Fort Carson. "Right when we got back there were people using cocaine in the barracks, there were people smoking marijuana at strip clubs; one guy started shooting up," he said.

Fort Carson, just outside Colorado Springs, is home to 17,500 active duty personnel. 4,800 service members are currently deployed in the "sand box" as soldiers call Iraq and Afghanistan. ABC News spoke to more than a dozen soldiers who described widespread abuse of illegal drugs at Fort Carson by service members back from the war.

Specialist Alan Hartmann was a gunner on a Chinook helicopter flying missions from Kuwait into Iraq in 2003. He described the high of flying and the feeling that "nothing can touch you," as well as the terror of being shot at.

Having regularly ferried the bodies of American soldiers killed in combat -- with the helicopter exhaust blowing warm air and the smell of death through the craft -- Hartmann said he had trouble sleeping when he returned to Ft. Carson. The nightmares were too bad, he said.

Army doctors prescribed anti-depressants and painkillers for him -- two-type written pages worth since he's been back -- but he didn't like how the drugs made him feel, Hartmann said. So he said he turned to self-medication with methamphetamines.

"The nightmares were killing me from being over there. The pain was so bad I didn't want to deal with it. Well, amphetamines is a real quick way to get rid of it," Hartmann said. "I was snorting it, and I was smoking it, and then I was hot railing it, and then I got to the point where I was actually injecting it in my arms," said Hartmann, who eventually checked himself into rehab and is now clean.

"(Soldiers are) coming back, drinking, fighting, putting thousand dollar tabs down at a bar and drinking four to five hours, getting to the point where you don't give a crap about anything anymore (or) anybody, don't care if you live or die…the point where you do drugs," Hartmann said. "(Drugs) have been in Fort Carson like crazy."

Another former Fort Carson soldier, Michael Bailey, said he was discharged from the army after testing positive for cocaine. Bailey served two tours, one in Iraq and another in Kuwait.

The stress of his deployment combined with marital problems overwhelmed Bailey who said he twice tried to commit suicide.

"The dose (of anti-depressants) I was on wasn't working, so I was trying an extra one and that wasn't working," Bailey said. "So I started drinking and at one point I did cocaine."

Baily said he failed a drug test the very next day. Even though he was in the process of receiving mental health counseling from the Army, Bailey said he was discharged over his drug use. At the time of his interview with ABC News, Bailey was unemployed and still grappling with feelings of depression and anxiety.

And then there's combat engineer William Swenson who was injured on what was to be his final mission in Iraq when his vehicle drove over a 200-pound improvised explosive device. The blast injured Swenson's spine and he developed syringomyelia -- a condition in which cysts form on the spinal cord.

Swenson said a laundry list of prescribed painkillers was ineffective so he turned to marijuana, the only substance that he said would numb his physical and emotional pain. Swenson failed a drug test after testing positive for marijuana as well as cocaine.

"I think a lot of people using drugs, soldiers mainly, coming back from Iraq, it's just to get an escape from…all those horrible things that came into their mind when they were over there," Swenson said.

Army Denies Growing Drug Abuse Problem

Fort Carson's leadership declined to discuss substance abuse issues with ABC News despite numerous interview requests. Fort Carson also said it could not comment on the individual cases of the soldiers we interviewed, citing privacy concerns.

However, in interviews with ABC News from the Pentagon, the U.S. Army strongly denied there was an increase in drug abuse among soldiers deployed to Iraq.

According to Dr. Ian McFarling, Acting Director of the Army Center for Substance Abuse Programs, less than one half of one percent of soldiers in Iraq have tested positive for illegal drugs. "That's a testament to the kind of leadership we have is that they believe that that's not the place that they should be doing drugs," said Dr. McFarling.

But Dr. McFarling said that once soldiers return from Iraq the positive rate doubles to over one percent. In addition, Dr. McFarling said five percent of soldiers back from Iraq seek help for substance abuse issues from clinical providers.

The U.S. Army does offer treatment for soldiers dealing with drug abuse and Fort Carson has a busy Army Substance Abuse Program. But some soldiers are forced off post because Fort Carson offers no in-patient services; others get treatment in the community to avoid the stigma associated with seeking help, soldiers and advocates said.

Since the Iraq war started in 2003, Colorado Springs hospitals and counseling services have seen a dramatic increase in active duty soldiers seeking treatment for substance abuse. Penrose-St. Francis Health Services went from treating no active duty soldiers for substance abuse before the war to between 30 and 40 now, said Phillip Ballard, the hospital's inpatient psychiatrist.

According to Phillip Ballard, "Now that we have larger numbers than the military facilities can treat…it falls upon the civilian community to treat those patients."

Veterans' advocacy groups charge that the problem of substance abuse is much greater than the army wants to publicly acknowledge, and it's growing.

"I've met with veterans from coast to coast, and I will tell you that there is a catastrophe on the horizon," said Paul Sullivan, director of Veterans for Common Sense.

3,057 veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars were potentially diagnosed with a drug dependency from fiscal year 2005 through March 2007, according to figures provided to ABC News from the Veterans Health Administration. From 2002 through 2004 only a total of 277 veterans were diagnosed with a drug dependency, the numbers show.

"The military right now can say whatever they want, but the truth on the ground is that the soldiers are in a lot of pain, emotional and physical pain, and they're turning to drugs in order to alleviate that," said Sullivan.

Wounded Warriors

More than a dozen Fort Carson soldiers talked to ABC about their drug use, including some willing to be interviewed on camera about their experiences.

--William Swenson was injured in his final mission in Iraq. Prescription drugs provided little relief from physical and emotional pain, Swenson said, so he turned to marijuana and tried cocaine. The army court-martialed Swenson and threw him in jail for 20 days.

--Michael Bailey said he tried to commit suicide twice because of the combined stress of his deployment to Iraq and marital problems. He failed a drug test after using cocaine during a night out on the town.

--Matthew McKane worked as a medic in Baghdad. To escape the daily chaos he and another soldier tried propofol, a powerful anesthetic, McKane said. The other soldier overdosed and died. When McKane returned home he tested positive for cocaine, he said. He is currently in prison awaiting a court martial on misconduct charges. McKane believes he will soon be dismissed from the Army because of his drug use.

--Jeffrey Smith also worked as a medic in Baghdad and said he turned to illegal drugs to cope with emotional trauma inflicted during his deployment in Iraq. After testing positive for illicit drugs, he said he was kicked out of the Army on misconduct charges with no benefits.

--Alan Hartmann was a door gunner on a Chinook helicopter flying missions from Kuwait into Iraq. He suffered from chronic nightmares after returning home and turned to methamphetamines to stay awake, he said.

Five Reasons Sputnik Still Matters

We've looked at every space launch since, and scouted the key missions ahead. But the satellite that started it all is worth a glance back: One groundbreaking Russian robot has made everyday life on earth smarter and faster -- and it ain't finished yet.

Earlier this summer, a crane in Tulsa, Okla., hauled up a rusted 1957 Plymouth Belvedere that had been buried 50 years earlier in a bombproof bunker as a time capsule. The contents included a case of beer, 14 bobby pins, $2.43, a bottle of tranquilizers and 10 gallons of gas -- in case internal combustion engines had become obsolete by 2007.

Despite our best research efforts, we're still relying on internal combustion engines, but much in our lives has changed dramatically since 1957. Some of those everyday changes can be traced back to the launch, 50 years ago, of Sputnik, the world’s first artificial satellite. The launch was a coup for the Soviet Union, and kick-started a new period of scientific innovation in the United States that culminated in the Apollo missions. Even though we haven't returned to the moon since 1972, plans are being hatched to go back -- and go beyond (NASA now says it will send Russian technology to find water on Mars and the lunar surface). Sputnik's impact continues to pervade life in the stars and back home, even as the little silver ball that could hits the half-century mark.

1. Weather You wouldn't want to bet your life on the accuracy of a weather forecast, but we're a lot better than we were in the pre-Sputnik age. The first weather satellite, Tiros I, was launched less than three years after Sputnik -- and quickly found a previously undetected tropical cyclone off the coast of Australia. Equipped with two television cameras, two video recorders and a crude communications system to send images back to Earth, Tiros I snapped 23,000 pictures during its 78-day mission, giving meteorologists their first overhead look at the cloud patterns that characterize storms. A global network of weather satellites came a year later.

Weather prediction has become commonplace on the 6 o'clock news, but now scientists want to use satellites to turn it on its face. Atmospheric researcher Ross Hoffman has proposed using infrared beams from satellites to warm the air around hurricanes as a method to change their direction. Sure, it's a long shot -- but so was Sputnik.

2. Communications The next major satellite milestone occurred in 1962 with the launch of Telstar I, the first "active" communications satellite that could amplify and retransmit incoming signals. Telstar ushered in an age predicted by science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke ( 2001: A Space Odyssey ) back in 1945, when he wrote that satellites "could give television and microwave coverage to the entire planet." The first live transatlantic images were shots of Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, broadcast from Andover, Maine, to a receiving station in France.

How important is the network of communications satellites that orbits above us now? When the Galaxy IV satellite malfunctioned in 1998, about 30 million pagers went silent, ATM and credit card payments were disrupted, and some television stations simply stopped broadcasting because of a lack of available programming.

3. Google Earth Surveillance satellites have been around since the U.S. Midas (Missile Defense and Alarm System) satellites were launched in the 1960s. But it was only in 2005 that the general public got its first taste of the power of satellite photography, with the launch of Google Earth. Zooming in with ultrahigh resolution on locations both familiar and unfamiliar provides an undeniable voyeuristic thrill -- but the potential of open-access satellite imagery is only beginning to be tapped.

When billionaire aviation pioneer Steve Fossett disappeared last month, crucial rescue workers and volunteers searched for his plane by combing through high-resolution photos snapped by GeoEye, a company that owns two Earth-imaging satellites. And the quality of images should only get better: Last month, DigitalGlobe, the company that provides images for Google Earth, launched its new satellite, WorldView-1. The new satellite will cover 290,000 square miles per day, with a resolution of less than 2 ft., revisiting each spot on average once every 1.7 days. Look up and smile for the camera!

4. Textiles For many people, the first thing that pops to mind when you say "space program spinoffs" is astronaut ice cream -- which, while interesting, is a little too chewy to qualify as a society-altering development. But the Space Race that Sputnik's surprise launch kicked off has produced a surprising number of trickle-down benefits, not all of them obvious.

Some space suits, for instance, contained more than two dozen layers of specially designed textiles, which have been redeployed in various civilian capacities. For example: Teflon-coated fiberglass, first used in the 1970s in space suits, is now found as a roofing material in stadiums around the world, including the 257-ton inflated roof of the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, held up by air pressure.

5. Mars Missions The biggest difference between the pre- and post-Sputnik eras might be that, 50 years ago, we had pretty much finished exploring everywhere we could physically reach. Now there's a universe of unknown destinations that are about as accessible to us as the Americas were to Europeans in 1500, or the North and South Poles were in 1900: We have the tools to get there, but the journey might kill us.

Thanks to new technology, we can take on unthinkable levels of exploration without even sending people -- the rovers that have been trundling around Mars since 2004, space telescopes such as Hubble and the forthcoming James Webb. But President Bush's "Renewed Spirit of Discovery" agenda also calls for a return to the moon by 2020, followed by manned missions to Mars. After that -- well, there are six other planets (seven if you count Pluto) in this solar system alone.

Musharraf finally doffs uniform

Pervez Musharraf, who will take oath as civilian president today, stepped down as army chief Wednesday and handed over the military command to General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani. General Kayani took charge as 14th Chief of Pakistan Army at an impressive ceremony, held at Hockey Stadium in front of General Headquarters, Rawalpindi. Caretaker Prime Minister Muhammadmian Soomro, Speaker National Assembly Chaudhry Amir Hussain, members of caretaker cabinet, diplomats, as well as senior civil and military officers witnessed the transition of command. The ceremony started with parade by a smartly turned out contingent of Pakistan Army, drawn from troops of Frontier Force Regiment and Azad Kashmir Regiment. During the ceremony, the most important element was the presentation of ‘Change of Command Stick’ to the incoming Chief of the Army Staff. Earlier, buglers announced the arrival of President Musharraf at the stadium. The President was given the presidential salute and national anthem played on the occasion of the farewell parade. President Musharraf then reviewed the parade. Army Band played the drum solo and then the outgoing Chief of Army Staff, General Musharraf presented the traditional Command Stick to the incoming Chief of the Army Staff. President Musharraf, while addressing briefly at the farewell parad"

BioPhotonics

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Precision Optics to Cut Jobs Precision Optics Corp. Inc. announced it will reduce its work force as a result of operating losses it expects to continue through 2008. Last week the Gardner-based manufacturer of advanced optical in...	Olympus to Buy Gyrus Group Olympus Corp. of Japan announced that it will acquire Gyrus Group PLC, a UK-based manufacturer of devices that enable less invasive surgeries, for $1.9 billion in cash. Gyrus Group is based in Reading...
Particles Send Drugs Remotely Remotely controlled nanoparticles that, when pulsed with an electromagnetic field, release drugs to attack tumors have been devised at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in research that could ...	Raydiance, Rutgers Collaborate Raydiance Inc., an ultrashort-pulse (USP) laser startup founded by Internet entrepreneur and former AOL chief executive Barry Schuler, announced today it will collaborate with Rutgers University and t...
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Introduction to Conscientiousness

It's a work day, breakfast is over, and you're dressed and ready. So how will you approach the tasks at hand? Some people work best with a clear schedule, a set of priorities and a due date for every step in the process. Others are, shall we say, less regimented. They approach a task with as much imagination as organization, and with a willingness to bend and modify in order to exercise some urge of creativity.

How about you? Do you walk in a straight line toward a clear goal, or are you more likely to dance your way down whatever path will get you wherever it is you're headed? The following paragraphs describe ways in which you approach the tasks life brings to you, and to what extent you are focused or flexible in how you choose to proceed.

Introduction to Conscientiousness

It's a work day, breakfast is over, and you're dressed and ready. So how will you approach the tasks at hand? Some people work best with a clear schedule, a set of priorities and a due date for every step in the process. Others are, shall we say, less regimented. They approach a task with as much imagination as organization, and with a willingness to bend and modify in order to exercise some urge of creativity.

How about you? Do you walk in a straight line toward a clear goal, or are you more likely to dance your way down whatever path will get you wherever it is you're headed? The following paragraphs describe ways in which you approach the tasks life brings to you, and to what extent you are focused or flexible in how you choose to proceed.

Introduction to Conscientiousness

It's a work day, breakfast is over, and you're dressed and ready. So how will you approach the tasks at hand? Some people work best with a clear schedule, a set of priorities and a due date for every step in the process. Others are, shall we say, less regimented. They approach a task with as much imagination as organization, and with a willingness to bend and modify in order to exercise some urge of creativity.

How about you? Do you walk in a straight line toward a clear goal, or are you more likely to dance your way down whatever path will get you wherever it is you're headed? The following paragraphs describe ways in which you approach the tasks life brings to you, and to what extent you are focused or flexible in how you choose to proceed.

Frantic bid to bridge Middle East divide | Israel and the Middle East | Guardian Unlimited

"The United States was making frantic efforts to close gaps between Israelis and Palestinians last night on the eve of an ambitious and high-risk gamble to 'relaunch' final peace negotiations after seven years of bloodshed and stalemate. President George Bush held separate meetings with Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, and Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, at the White House in an 11th-hour effort to agree a joint declaration of principles before today's Annapolis summit - which is shaping up to be the biggest Israeli-Arab conference since Madrid in 1991. At a dinner for the delegates last night, Mr Bush warned of hard bargaining ahead: 'We've come together this week because we share a common goal: two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, living side-by-side in peace and security. Achieving this goal requires difficult compromises, and the Israelis and Palestinians have elected leaders committed to making them.' But pressure from hardliners at home fuelled profound scepticism about the prospects of a breakthrough. The Islamist movement Hamas warned Abbas he would be a 'traitor' if he made concessions to Israel. Israel's opposition Likud leader, Binyamin Netanyahu, said Palestinians were 'not lifting a finger to halt terror'. Thousands protested in Jer"

Cautious hope for Mid-East talks

The US, Israeli and Palestinian leaders have voiced hope that a conference in Maryland could produce a starting point for serious peace negotiations.

Speaking at a formal dinner for participants, US President George Bush expressed his "personal commitment" towards resolving the conflict.

But he warned "difficult compromises" lay ahead for both sides.

Correspondents say expectations for Tuesday's meeting in the city of Annapolis are modest.

More than 40 organisations and countries, including Saudi Arabia and Syria, are attending the conference at a US naval academy.

The US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, has been meeting Israeli and Palestinian teams in an effort to clinch a joint statement that sets out an outline for how negotiations will proceed post-Annapolis.

'This time it's different'

Mr Olmert and Mr Abbas had separate meetings with US President George W Bush in the White House on Monday.

Mr Olmert told reporters the "international support" provided by participants was a crucial factor in his optimism.

"This time it's different because we are going to have lots of participants in what I hope will launch a serious process of negotiations between us and the Palestinians," Mr Olmert said.

But Mr Olmert also cautioned that no peace deal could be agreed without the halting of rocket attacks into Israel from Gaza - controlled by the Islamist movement Hamas, which has stayed away from the conference.

For his part, Mr Abbas praised the initiative but said talks would have to address the thorny obstacles to Palestinian statehood - the "permanent-status issues" - that have felled previous attempts at peace negotiations.

LOVE

Israel kills 3 Palestinians

TULKAREM, West Bank, (AFP) - Israeli troops killed three Palestinians on Sunday, one of them in a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank and two in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, officials on both sides said. In the northern West Bank town of Tulkarem, Israeli troops shot dead Mohammad Qozah, 25, of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, a group loosely linked with president Mahmud Abbas’s Fatah party, medics and Palestinian security sources said. In the Gaza Strip, two Palestinians - one from Islamic Jihad and another from the Popular Resistance Committees - were killed early on Sunday. The army claimed an Israeli patrol saw the men approaching the border fence that separates the impoverished territory from Israel and killed them in a subsequent exchange of fire. Palestinian medics and witnesses said the two men were killed in an exchange of fire after shooting on an Israeli patrol that had entered the central Gaza Strip. Later in the day eight people were wounded in the north of the Gaza Strip by Israeli artillery fire, medics said."

80 Taliban killed in coalition strikes

KHOST (AFP) - Around 80 Taliban were killed in a series of air raids by international military forces near eastern Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan, officials said Sunday. About 65 of the rebels were killed in a single air assault late Saturday in eastern Paktia province on a ‘large group of Taliban’, said Din Mohammad Darvish, a spokesman for the local administration. Four others were killed in a second assault targeting a vehicle carrying rebels in the same region of the province, Patan district, and four in a nearby area, he said. Another three were killed in an air strike near Gardez, the capital of the restive province, he said. “Altogether 76 Taliban were killed in separate air strikes by coalition forces,” Darvish told AFP. The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and separate US-led coalition could only immediately confirm the last incident, which they said was targeted at three militants spotted planting a bomb near Gardez. The Afghan defence ministry announced earlier that four other rebels were killed in a different part of Paktia, Zurmat, also on Saturday. Seven were seized, it said in a statement. Casualty tolls in battles between insurgents and Afghan security forces and their international allies are often difficult to establish, with officials regularly issuing different"

Teacher of Mercy

"Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) was a compassionate man, full of love and understanding. He took an interest in the physical and spiritual problems of his friends, relatives, and all those around him, and he took all appropriate measures to ensure their health, security, and happiness. He took them under his wing and always bore in mind their lot in the hereafter by encouraging them to remain godly. These features of the Prophet, which are examples for all of humanity, are referred to in the Qur'an: [A Messenger has come to you from among yourselves. Your suffering is distressing to him; he is deeply concerned for you; he is gentle and merciful to the believers.](At-Tawbah 9:128) [And lower your wing (in kindness) unto those believers who follow you.] (Ash-Shu`araa' 26:215) Since the Companions of the Prophet took him as a model, they made the appropriate sacrifices as mentioned in the Qur'an, behaving with empathy and compassion toward one another. A verse speaks of the sacrifices the faithful made for the sake of one another: [Those [the Ansar, Muslims of Madinah] who were already settled in the abode, and in belief, before they [the Muhajirun; immigrants from Makkah to Madinah] came, love those who migrated"

The Prophet's Forgiveness of His Enemies

Anas, a close Companion of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) reported, "A Jewish woman brought a poisoned lamb to the Prophet, and he ate of it. When the woman was brought to him, people suggested, 'Shall we kill her?' The Prophet said, 'No.' I have recognized the effects of that poisoning in the Prophet's throat ever since." (Al-Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawood, Ahmad, and others).

Following the Prophet's example in any situation is to make sure of choosing the right course of action. Some people may think that this applies to matters of religion only. In Islam there is no differentiation between religious and "worldly" matters. Everything in people's lives is evaluated from the Islamic viewpoint. Hence the Prophet's example provides guidance to us in all spheres of life.

It is needless to say that this applies, in perhaps greater measure, to social behavior and relations with other people. It is important to study how the Prophet treated other people in a comprehensive range of situations in order to understand the Islamic approach to social relations. Here, we are giving a few brief notes on one characteristic that manifested itself in the Prophet's behavior in a variety of situations. That characteristic is forgiveness of one's enemies.

Perhaps the description "a personal enemy" cannot be attached more appropriately than to one who tries to kill someone. When the attempt is the result of careful plotting, then the hostility is deeply rooted. During his life, the Prophet had many enemies who plotted against his life. One such attempt took place soon after the Prophet won the battle of Khaibar that he fought against the Jews of Madinah, resulting in the destruction of the Jewish military power in Arabia. Khaibar fell to the Prophet after a long siege culminating in a fierce fighting to win several of the many forts of which this Jewish stronghold consisted.

In order to appreciate the significance of the story quoted in the hadith at hand, we have to remember that the Prophet was the head of the Islamic state, in addition to his being a Prophet and a messenger from Allah to all humankind. In any state, an attempt on the life of the president or monarch is always viewed very seriously. Anyone caught making or preparing to make such an attempt is normally charged with high treason and with making an aggression on the state and all its people. Such a person hardly ever escapes the death penalty. Yet the immediate reaction of the Prophet was that the woman must not be killed. Moreover, there was no question about the identity of the perpetrator of that ghastly attempt on the life of the Prophet. The woman herself brought the lamb and told the Prophet that she had prepared it as a present to him.

When the woman was brought before the Prophet, he asked her about her motives. She did not deny having poisoned the lamb. She said, "I thought that if you were truly a Prophet, you would not be harmed. If you were a king (meaning that if his claim to prophethood was false), then I would have rid people of you."

When that woman contemplated her attempt, she must have realized that if she were to be successful, she would have avenged the defeat of her people. She was certain that the Prophet accepted any gift given to him and always tried to please the person who gave him a gift by eating from it if it was food or using it if it was something to be used. Moreover, she realized that the Prophet would not be the only one to eat of that lamb. Any of his Companions who would be attending with him would be invited to join him in his meal. Quite a number of them, probably some of the leading figures, would die with him. That could very well have been the outcome of her attempt. Indeed one of them, Bishr ibn Al-Baraa' was the first to eat. The Prophet himself ate one or two bites. He immediately signaled his Companions to stop. He told them, "Do not touch it. One of its organs is telling me that it is poisoned." Bishr ibn Al-Baraa' soon died.

The Prophet himself complained of the effects of the poison for the rest of his blessed life. Anas, who continued in the Prophet's service for 10 years until he passed away, was able to recognize the change that affected the Prophet as a result of this poisoned lamb. She must have used a very powerful poison to produce such a lasting effect. It is indeed reported that the Prophet said during his illness, just before passing away, that he continued to complain from the poisoned food he ate at Khaibar. For this reason, a number of scholars have argued that the Prophet was also a martyr. That means that Allah has given him the honor of being a martyr in addition to the honor of being a Prophet and a messenger.

In the light of the foregoing, the Prophet's tendency to forgive that woman, which was manifested in his immediate reaction to the suggestion of his Companions that they should kill her, is highly significant. He always forgave even the most hardened of his enemies, if the choice to forgive was his. In this case, it was his own life that was the immediate target of that woman. Allah foiled her attempt and the Prophet was inclined to forgive her.

Most hadiths and history books give this report the same as it has been given in this article. They do not mention whether the woman, who incidentally, was called Zainab bint Al-Harith, was punished in anyway. Indeed, Al-Bukhari includes this hadith in his highly valuable compilation entitled Al-Adab Al-Mufrad under the chapter heading "Forgiveness of other People."

It is mentioned, however, by a number of scholars that the Prophet subsequently ordered that the woman be executed. There is no contradiction between his earlier forgiveness of her and subsequent punishment. The Prophet first pardoned her for making an attempt on his life. Her attempt failed and he survived. He himself was the only one who had the authority to forgive her, since the attempt was made on him personally. Her punishment was for killing one of his Companions (i.e. Bishr ibn Al-Baraa') who ate of the poisoned lamb.

It is well known in Islam that no one, not even the Prophet, has the authority to waive punishment when one of the crimes for which a particular punishment is prescribed by Almighty Allah Himself. One of these is murder, which earns capital punishment. Once it is established beyond doubt that a certain person has committed a murder, no one may pardon or reduce such person's punishment. This applies to all similar crimes such as theft, adultery, and highway robbery.

This means that while the Prophet was always prepared to pardon an offender who might try to injure or kill him, he could not pardon a murderer, because it is the responsibility of the head of the state to make sure that Allah's law is implemented. When it came to personal injury, harm, or insult, the Prophet never hesitated to pardon such offenders. The Prophet pardoned the Jewish woman for plotting to assassinate him. She was, however, executed for poisoning to death one of his Companions.

I have deal with people but no deal with govt: Nawaz Sharif

I have deal with people but no deal with govt: Nawaz Sharif LAHORE: Former premier and PML (N) chief Muhammad Nawaz Sharif rejected the reports that he had retuned to Pakistan as a result of deal with government and said; “I have deal with people but no deal with government.” He stated this while addressing his reception gathering at Data Darbar where he arrived after 11 eleven hours of traveling from the Lahore airport. Nawaz Sharif accompanied by his wife Kulsoom and former Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif paid visit to Data Darbar as they arrived here after their seven years of exile. 'Together we will restore democracy and end dictatorship,' Sharif told supporters from the top of a lorry after stopping at one of the city's main markets. 'It is time for a decisive बत्तले.

Immune system driving cancers into dormant state A multinational team of researchers has shown for the first time that the immune system can stop the

" Scientists have been working for years to use the immune system to eradicate cancers, a technique known as immunotherapy. The new findings prove an alternate to this approach exists: When the cancer can't be killed with immune attacks, it may be possible to find ways to use the immune system to contain it. The results may also help explain why some tumours seem to suddenly stop growing and go into a lasting period of dormancy. 'Thanks to the animal model we have developed, scientists can now reproduce this condition of tumour dormancy in the laboratory and look directly at cancer cells being held in check by the immune system,' said Robert Schreiber, Ph.D, Alumni Professor of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis. 'That will allow us to see if we can model this state therapeutically,' he added. The study's authors call the cancer-immune system stalemate equilibrium. During equilibrium, the immune system both decreases the cancer's drive to replicate and kills some of the cancerous cells, but not quickly enough to eliminate or shrink the tumour. 'We may one day be"

Poultry farms to be monitored for bird flu outbreak

ISLAMABAD:
The government is making a plan to register all poultry farms to have proper monitoring system to check any outbreak of bird flu in the country. Executive Director National Institute of Health (NIH) Maj. Gen. (R) Masood Anwar said addressing the participants of media retreat on 'Bird Flu Prevention and Control' jointly organized by National Institute of Health (NIH), Ministry of Health and UNICEF. He said proper surveillance system is a must to proper monitoring the bird flu situation as chances of human cases are high in the country due to lack of awareness. Maj. Gen (R) Masood said those affiliated with poultry farm industry should follow guidelines disseminates by the Ministry of Health and Livestock from time to time to prevent people from bird flu virus. He said due to inadequate preventive measures adopted by the workers of poultry farms besides human being other animals including dogs and cats may also acquire this virus which can further spread to others. He said effective media campaign is essential to create awareness among masses about the disease and its prevention. He added citizens should also regular check their pet animals which may also a major source for spread of bird flu. Incharge Epidemic Investigation Cell, NIH, Dr. Jaleel Kamran apprised that after the recent outbreak of bird f"

Real Time Release

Real time release is the ability to evaluate and ensure the acceptable quality of in-process and/or final product based on process analytical data. Typically, the PAT component of real time release can include a validated combination of assessed material attributes (in-process and/or product at final process stage), process controls, process end-points, and other critical process parameters. Material attributes can be assessed using direct and/or indirect (e.g., correlated) process analytical methods. The combined process analytical measurements and other test data gathered during the manufacturing process can serve the basis for real time release of the final product and would demonstrate that each batch conforms to established regulatory quality attributes. We consider real time release testing to be an example of alternative analytical procedures for final product release.

Real time release as defined in this guidance builds on parametric release for heat terminally sterilized drug products, a practice in the United States since 1985. In real time release, material attributes are measured and controlled along with process parameters. Real time release as defined in this guidance may fulfill the requirements of parametric release for all dosage forms as defined by other regulatory authorities.

The Agency's approval should be obtained prior to implementing real time release for final products. Process understanding, control strategies, plus on-, in-, or at-line measurement of critical attributes that relate to product quality can provide a scientific risk-based approach to justify how real time quality assurance may be equivalent to, or better than, laboratory-based testing on collected samples. Real time release as defined in this guidance meets the requirements of testing and release for distribution (21 CFR 211.165).

With real time quality assurance, the desired quality attributes are ensured through continuous assessment during manufacture. Data from production batches can serve to validate the process and reflect the total system design concept, essentially supporting validation with each manufacturing batch.

Risk-Based Approach

Within an established quality system and for a particular manufacturing process, one would expect an inverse relationship between the level of process understanding and the risk of producing a poor quality product. For processes that are well understood, opportunities exist to develop less restrictive regulatory approaches to manage change. Thus, a focus on process understanding can facilitate risk-based regulatory decisions and innovation. Note that risk analysis and management is broader than what is discussed within the PAT framework and may form a system of its own. This is currently under discussion as part of the broad FDA Risk-Based initiative.

Process Understanding

A process is generally considered well understood when (1) all critical sources of variability are identified and explained; (2) variability is managed by the process; and, (3) product quality attributes can be accurately and reliably predicted over the ranges of acceptance criteria established for materials used, process parameters, and manufacturing environmental and other conditions. The ability to predict reflects a high degree of process understanding. Although retrospective process capability data are indicative of a state of control, these alone may be insufficient to gauge or communicate process understanding.

The emphasis on process understanding provides a range of options for qualifying and justifying new technologies such as modern on-line process analyzers intended to measure and control physical and/or chemical attributes of materials to achieve real time release. For example, if process knowledge is not shared or communicated when proposing a new process analyzer, the test-to-test comparison between an on-line process analyzer (e.g., NIR spectroscopy for content uniformity) and a conventional test method (e.g., a wet chemical test) on collected samples may be the only available option. In some cases, this approach may be too burdensome and may discourage the use of some new technologies (e.g., use of acoustic measurement patterns or signatures for process controls). An emphasis on process knowledge can provide less burdensome approaches for validating new technologies for their intended use.

Transfer of laboratory analytical methods to at-line methods using test-to-test comparisons may not necessitate a PAT approach. Existing regulatory and compendial approaches and guidances on analytical method validation should be considered.

Structured product and process development on a small scale, using experiment design and an on- or in-line process analyzer to collect data in real time for evaluation of kinetics on reactions and other processes such as crystallization and powder blending can provide valuable insight and understanding for process optimization, scale-up, and technology transfer. Process understanding then continues in the production phase when possibly other variables (e.g., environmental and supplier changes) may be encountered. Therefore, continuous learning through data collection and analysis over the life cycle of a product is important.

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Blogger Templates: Embedding a Picasa Web Albums Slideshow

Blogger Templates: Embedding a Picasa Web Albums Slideshow

a midsummer nights dream

a midsummer nights dream
Originally uploaded by _rebekka

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Tokyo Concept Cars: Green Machines

©Mitsubishi

Also on the Web A Slideshow Are You Right for A Sports Car? Ford's Wild Horse Jaguar Shows off their Style and Substance The Car Everyone Wants to Ride In The Sportier Utility Vehicle

by Shane Kite
Provided by

Japanese manufacturers usually go wild with their concept cars during the Tokyo Motor Show and introduce experimental vehicles that may or may not appear on the roads someday। The crop of crazy concepts this year is largely an eco-friendly group of small vehicles, some of which are tiny enough to serve as personal mobility devices. Below are all of the world debuting concept vehicles from this year's show, which was held from Oct. 27 through Nov. 11, 2007.

Mitsubishi i MiEV Sport

The Mitsubishi i MiEV SPORT is a zero-emissions plug-in electric mini-car that is the performance version of the automaker's innovative Electric Vehicle, or "MiEV." In-wheel motors up front and a special all-wheel-drive system, called Super All Wheel Control (S-AWC), make this Volkswagen Beetle-looking car highly maneuverable as well as responsive, the automaker said. A single motor drives the rear wheels. An electronic all-wheel-drive system optimizes the output of all three electric motors (the two up front and one at the rear). Besides using regenerative braking technology as is already incorporated on current hybrid vehicles, the i MiEV Sport includes a couple of other innovative features that help charge the vehicle's battery pack: an auxiliary photovoltaic generator on the roof captures and converts sunlight into electricity and a fan inside the front grill harness wind power. The small coupe has a range of 124 miles and top speed of 112 mph. The taillights and the interior use power-saving LEDs, and heat-absorbing window glass is meant to curb the use of air conditioning. "Green plastic," Mitsubishi's plant-based resin technology, is used where possible to cut down on interior components that could end up in landfills. The automaker said that occupants are protected in collisions from any direction, even when colliding with a vehicle of different height or weight, due to the car's layout and use of Mitsubishi's latest Reinforced Impact Safety Evolution (RISE) body.

Arrest Made In Violent Sexual Assaults

Russell M. Nunn, 46, is accused of attacking an elderly woman at her eastside home in August. Nunn is also accused of assaulting another elderly woman at her eastside home earlier this month.

Investigators say forensic evidence linked Nunn to the assaults. Nunn is a Level 3 registered sex offender. The Level 3 category is for those most likely to re-offend, according to the Tucson Police Department.

Nunn was released from prison earlier this year after serving time for a previous assault. Nunn was booked into the Pima County Jail Thursday night and charged with 2 counts of robbery, 2 counts of burglary, and 1 count of aggravated assault, according to a press release from the Tucson Police Department.

Paparazzo Seriously Injured in Spears Madness

UPDATE: Miraculously, the victim was released from the hospital last night with only a tire mark on his arm. Not a single broken bone, and no internal injuries. Lucky guy!

TMZ has confirmed a paparazzo on a motorcycle has been injured while chasing Britney Spears.

The accident, first reported by That Other Blog, happened around 5:00 PM tonight, roughly a mile from the Beverly Hills Four Seasons Hotel. Several cars were in line chasing the pop princess when one hit another photog on a motorcycle, throwing the rider off the bike and onto the road. We're told the rider was seriously injured and transported to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. His current condition is unknown.

UPDATE: We're told that the injured person is what is known as a "spotter," and does not actually carry a camera. He will follow the star and tip off other photographers to her whereabouts. We hear he's fairly new to the Britney beat, only appearing on the scene in the past several days.

Students Across Pakistan Protest Against Musharraf's Emergency

The new martial law (nicknamed emergency) is awakening up the student body. Numerous events across the country are making their way to the public: Draft Resolution of the LUMS Community Regarding Martial Law Draft Resolution 03/11/07 Preamble: There is so much to condemn today that we may not begin with the unitary. We must take liberty to accept that the actions of a single individual have marred all three pillars of the state – all 'four' for that matter. Even, the institutions of preservation/maintaining the balance of power are now subservient to a single institution. The condemnation today, therefore, we must make in the harshest possible language – a condemnation directed towards the actions of that very single 'dual' institution - the President cum Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan. Resolution: We, the faculty, students and staff of the Lahore School of Management Sciences (LUMS) extend our voices in condemnation of the gross political injustices that the nation has experienced in the past few months – more so, we take liberty to condemn the ethereal blockage imposed by the executive by the declaration of a Martial Law in the country. We condemn General Musharraf for employing a 'notorious', uncalled for action; an unnecessary action, by revisiting the 'doctrine of necessity' which, perhaps, could have (in today's climate) only be called upon for its self-removal. His referral to the 'preservation of the union' quotation of Abraham Lincoln in his speech to the "American friends" appears to have been employed in the wrong context for Lincoln had to preserve a union from disintegration from problems that he had himself not partaken to create. We deny the military leaders of today both the moral ground and the legitimacy to raise again this 'doctrine of necessity' that must now be shunned to the echelons of earth. The LUMS community, again, make the statement that the incumbent government may not be extended the right to 'dirty the laundry first, and, then, be let to clean it up after dismantling the machine that fulfilled the task'. We resent and condemn the brutality dealt out to the bearers of right that have protested this illegitimate action. We express solidarity with those who find themselves in hospitals, in prisons and 'missing' for raising the voice of the right, including our own faculty members. A solemn request we make to the law enforcement authorities of the state: that the protests be let be…the protesters be let go…for the time today is for the nation to rise. Our voice echoes the popular desires of the nation – the resolution of the crisis that has unveiled itself to our nation and its people – and, in attempting to echo these considerations we call upon the state to: Lift the 'Martial Law' immediately Retract the new PCO [Provisional Constitutional Order] Restore the Judiciary to its pre-Martial Law state. Demarcate a method to return the military to the barracks for good. Provide the assurance of the right to life to each citizen of Pakistan Restore legitimacy to the government by the exercise of the right of voting to the citizens Therefore, we call for an immediate declaration of the election schedule. We, the LUMS community, reach a collective consensus that the problems that the military run government declares as responsible for the need to declare the current state of emergency are its own pandemic. We, therefore, refuse to acknowledge any attempt by the government to employ the 'doctrine of necessity' and call upon the same to immediately lift the martial law as per instructions of the Supreme Court. We must color the nation again with the green and white of our flag – and, perhaps, engrave that flag on our hearts. Time today is of highest value: we invoke and request the citizens in general and other institutions to join us in raising a collective voice. Destiny will be made or marred in the coming days! Remember that! LUMS students protesting against emergency Students in FAST detained within campus on protesting against emergency

Google pushes into mobile phones

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

(Google has unveiled software it hopes will power a variety of future mobile phones and boost the web on the move) The software could lead to cheaper phones as it is designed to speed up the process of making mobile services. The firm is working with four mobile manufacturers - Samsung, HTC, Motorola and LG - but a Google branded phone was not announced. The first phones using the so-called Google "software stack" will be available in the second half of 2008. "This is going to bring the internet into cell phones in a very cool way," Andy Rubin, Google's director of mobile platforms, told the Associated Press news agency. Mr Rubin's firm, called Android, was bought by Google in 2005 and the software it developed forms the basis of the new stack. Google has formed the Open Handset Alliance (OHA), made up of 34 companies, including chip manufacturers and handset makers. The move will be seen as a major competitor to Microsoft, Research in Motion, Palm and Symbian, who make the leading software systems for mobiles. Google's Android software will be provided to handset makers free of charge and could lead to a price war for operating system licenses and potentially cheaper handsets. In the United States mobile networks such as Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile will carry the Google-powered phones. (There are three billion mobile handsets in the world) 'Unleash potential' China Mobile, Telefonica in Spain and Telecom Italia are among the carriers that have signed on to provide services outside the US. "This partnership will help unleash the potential of mobile technology for billions of users around the world," Eric Schmidt, Google's chief executive and chairman, said in a statement. "We want to create a whole new mobile experience for users" - Eric Schmidt, Google Rene Obermann, chief executive of Deutsche Telekom, said Android would offer a "better than internet experience for mobile users". "This is a shot that is going to be heard around the world, but it's just the first shot in what is going to be a very protracted battle in the next frontier of the mobile web," said analyst Michael Gartenberg, at Jupiter Research. In a call to reporters, Mr Schmidt said: "We want to create a whole new mobile experience for users. "Mobile users want the same applications on the phone as they use on the internet." Peter Chou, chief executive of HTC, said the agreement to join the OHA did not mean the firm would stop the use of other operating systems on its platforms. "We do have commitments with some carriers and will continue with those lines," he said. There have been many reports of a so-called Google phone in recent months. "Today's announcement is more ambitious than any single Google Phone that the press has been speculating about over the past few weeks," said Mr Schmidt. "This doesn't seem to be a beta release of a technology. If I were a competitor, I would be sitting up and paying attention" - Analyst Adam Leach, Ovum "Our vision is that the powerful platform we're unveiling will power thousands of different phone models." But Mr Schmidt would not rule out the release of a Google Phone in the future. Adam Leach, principal analyst with Ovum, said: "It's an important announcement. That number of companies already committing to the service is very impressive." Mr Leach said the danger was that the move would create "yet another" competing service and not a "truly open platform". "We've seen collaboration of this sort before in the mobile industry and there's quite a number of platforms already out there professing to remove fragmentation, speed-up time to market and enable third-party innovation. "The proposition from that point of view is not new." (A Google search page is seen through the spectacles of a computer user in Leicester, central England July 20, 2007. Google will unveil its mobile strategy on Monday, including a phone operating system and a broad alliance with multiple wireless service providers and handset vendors, people familiar with the matter) He added: "This doesn't seem to be a beta release of a technology. If I were a competitor, I would be sitting up and paying attention." Google's system will be based on computer code that can be openly distributed among programmers, allowing them to build new applications. A development tool kit for working on the new platform will be released next week.

How To Generate Traffic

There are actually essential factors that we canconsider when we want to have business online.Making a website would be one of our first stepsto make this plan realized. But the questionwould be: Are we ready to make follow-ups afterwe already created a website for our onlinebusiness? Basically, preparations for this are not justeasy as setting breakfast for the family. Itentails more of thorough research and advancemarketing strategies that are very efficient andapplicable online. Why do we need to have them?Of course, we didn't make a website for ourselvesbut it is made for those potential buyers who wethink can become interested in trying the productor service offered. The first aim is to inform these potentialbuyers where they can get a product or servicesuited to their needs online. Although we may notbe selling products or services online, but wecould also create a simple website and earnmoney. So, that is when we start letting thesepeople be aware of the existence of our website.This would also help to increase ranking for oursearch engine optimization. What are the possible steps that we can do? Here are some of the ways that you can do toincrease traffic: Make the content of your website substantial,fresh and informativeWrite updated and killer articlesForum posting campaignLink buildingAffiliate marketing The idea of having these two concepts is veryimportant. These strategies play a vital role indriving traffic to your website. Thus, generatingsales and you get a higher ranking search engineposition. Be sure to create unique, substantial, fresh andinformative content to your website. This isgoing to keep the search engine spiders comingback to your site. Excellent quality of yourwebsite's content makes your visitors stay toyour site. Offer them free articles that havegood quality since visitors are always lookingfor quality information for free. In return, theywould keep visiting your website from time totime. This increases the conversion ratio of your siteas well. Up to date and killer articles would definitelytickle the interest of your visitors to keepchecking back your website for more. They wouldbe convinced that you are already an expert inthe market niche where you belong because of theupdated and killer articles that you provide.These visitors would, for sure, read yourarticles and thus, click your links on yourresource box which, giving you tons of freetraffics generating to your website. Furthermore, Forum posting campaign is anothergreat way to generate lots of traffic. In thiscase, you participate in forums. Give yourcomments and suggestions regarding stuffs relatedto your niche and then leave your links. Be surenot to create a spam when you join into forumsbecause it won't help your site to get anytraffic. When you make quality posts, the forum moderatoror administrator is going to allow you to includeyour signature after your post including your ad.People would be happy to click through your linkand look at your website with an open outlookbecause you were able to post good quality ofposts in the forum. Moreover, link building shares the most number oftraffic generation to your site. The more youcreate links, the higher you get traffic to yoursite. How can we be assured of this? LinkPopularity refers to the number of incoming linkspointing to your site from other sites. So thatmeans, when you have left many links as you canto as many sites associated to your niche, youwill just be amazed how traffic to your siteincreases extremely. But be sure that you leaveyour links to the same niche that your sitebelongs. It is also very important that youconsider where market niche you leave your links. Affiliate marketing is one of the ways toadvertise and drive traffic to a web-site. Theaffiliate is mainly a web site owner who has somevisitors coming to his web site and who iswilling to promote merchant's products orservices in exchange for commissions. Affiliatedweb site owner places banners or text links to anonline merchant web-site. So, how does affiliate marketing work for yourwebsite to generate more traffic effectively? Apparently, when somebody becomes affiliate themore you leave your link to your affiliate'swebsite. Affiliate marketing looks like extremelyattractive for most online merchant especiallybecause of the chance of high profits with aninvestment of less than thousand dollars. Assuch, a lot of marketers online prefer to join anaffiliate program because they just don't earnmoney but also get lots of traffic online as easyas slicing a cake.

GATIFLOXACIN

Indication:

Gatifloxacin is bactericidal and acts by inhibiting the A subunit of DNA gyrase (topoisomerase) which is essential in the reproduction of bacterial DNA. It has a broader spectrum of activity and is more potent in vitro than the non-fluorinated quinolone nalidixic acid. Activity may be reduced in acid media.

Spectrum of activity Among Gram-negative aerobic bacteria, Gatifloxacin is active in vitro against Enterobaceriaceae, including Escherichia coli and Citrobacter, Enterobacter, Klebsiella, Proteus, Providencia, Salmonella, Serratia, Shigella, and Yersinia spp; the MIC₉₀ for most of these is reported to be 1µg or less per mL. It (MIC₉₀ about 2µg per mL), but less so against other Pseudomonas spp. Haemophilus ducreyi,H. influenzas, Morexella catarrhalis (Branhamella catarrh list), Neisseria gonorrhea, and N. meningitides are all very sensitive, including beta-lantanas-producing strains of H. influenza, M. catarrhalis, and N. gonorrhea. Other Gram-negative aerobic bacteria reported to be sensitive to Gatifloxacin have include Acinetobacter spp., Campylobacter spp., Gardnerella vaginalis, Helicobacter pylori.

Among Gram-positive aerobic bacteria, Gatifloxacin is active against staphylococci, including penicillinase-producing and penicillinase-nonproducing strains (MIC₉₀ 1 µg or less per mL), and against some meticillin-resistant strains. Streptococci, are less susceptible. Other Gram-positive bacteria sensitive to Gatifloxacin in vitro are Corynebacterium spp. and Lisreria monocytogenes.

Most anaerobic bacteria, including Bacteroides fragilis and Clostridium difficult, are resistance to Gatifloxacin, although some other Bacteroides and Clostridium spp. may be susceptible.

Gatifloxacin has some activity against mycobacterium, mycoplasmas, reckettsias, and the protozoan Plasmodium falciparum. Chlamydia trachomatis is not very susceptible and Nocardia asteroides and Ureaplasma urealyticum are usually considered to be resistant. The spirochaets Treponema pallidum and fungi are also resistant.

Activity with other antimicrobial agents. There have been some reports of enhanced activity in vitro when gatifloxacin has been used with other antimicrobials, such as azlocillin against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, imipenem against Ps. Aeruginosa, and cefotaxime or clindamycin against anaerobic bacteria.