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Home Minister confirmed that all polio workers remained unharmed in the attacks.
Rangers Sindh Director General (DG) Major General Bilal Akbar asserted that all polio workers in the city would be provided adequate security, while the attackers would be caught soon.
Dogs and millionaires have a lot in common. They are relentless opportunists (especially when it comes to rewards). They come in all shapes, sizes and colors. They defend their turf. And in general, they don't like cats.
Perhaps that explains a new survey that shows that millionaires are far more dog-friendly than the rest of Americans.
According to a study by Spectrem Group, 58 percent of millionaire pet owners have a dog. Only 37 percent own a cat. Only 3 percent keep fish, 2 percent birds and 2 percent have a horse.
Why have millionaires gone to the dogs?
Jennifer Cona, a trust and estates attorney and partner with Genser Subow Genser & Cona in New York, does a lot of work on pet trusts. She said that of all the pet trusts she's worked on, 90 percent are for dogs and only 10 percent are for cats. (She's written only one parakeet trust).
She said dogs provide one thing especially important to the wealthy: "unconditional love."
"You don't get that from a cat," she said. "Dogs are like children for some families, except they don't mess up in college or run off with money. Sometimes it's easy to see why dogs are the favorite child."
Plus, she says, millionaires know that dogs don't love them for their money.
"It's unbiased love and money doesn't enter into the equation," she said. "That's important."
Many would say those numbers are understated, given all the diamond-dog collars, chateaubriand dog foods and booming dog spas in evidence these days. Not to mention the medical bills.
The survey showed that 34 percent of pet owners spend money on grooming, while only six percent spend on "sweaters, accessories, outfits and costumes."
More than half of millionaire pet owners spend money on teeth cleaning for their pets. More than 16 percent, meanwhile, said they would spend money on reconstructive knee surgery, hip surgery and "anti-anxiety, anti-depression" medication for their pets.
Money, I suppose, can't buy happiness – even for dogs.
Why do you think millionaires prefer dogs. Security? Loyalty?
How did the NPP win th elections?
Lens -- The provisional results of the EC make the NPP the winner of the 2004 elections- the whole country is awaiting the final results to know the exact percentage of that victory. But whatever the final results- one thing is clear- this nation is divided right in the middle with about nearly half opposed to the ruli...
One question, which continues to exercise the minds of many people is: Did the NPP actually win deservingly or the party only took advantage of the lapses committed by the NDC to cling on to power? This is so because from all indications, the NPP had shot itself in the foot through its extremely insentive policies that...
Additionally, Corruption went through the roofs in the first term of the Kufuor-led NPP government. So disgusting was the incidence of corruption in the government that President Kufuor himself who started on the tough note of Zero tolerance for corruption balked away from it and started rationalizing corruption by sta...
The culture of impunity under the NPP also shot itself to unprecedented heights. NPP activists can commit all crimes under the sun and go scot-free. Either they are not arrested at all or impediments are placed in the way of the law enforcement agencies so their efforts are thwarted. NPP persons arrested for illegal po...
Lies and deceitful spinning was also institutionalized. Right from the presidency down to the NPP party, Ghanaians were subjected to unprecedented levels of blatant lies, fabrications, spins and half-truths. Decency, truth and sincerity in our body politic was thrown to the dogs and liars started assuming the stature o...
Mr. Kufuor's first term also saw the height of harassment of political opponents. The mother of it all was the persecution of the three former NDC government officials in the infamous Quality Grain case. The search for arms has been one of the conduits of the Kufuor government's operations in this regard. Unlawful arre...
With their ill-gotten wealth, some NPP government officials resorted to snatching peoples' wives.
Instead of using their positions to maintain peace in society including homes, they have rather become agents of disaffection in marriages and in most cases caused the break up of these marriages.
Governance is about the welfare of the people. On the contrary, in the case of Mr. Kufuor and his NPP government, governance is appearing steadily to be about the welfare of the President and his government officials and together with its operatives and functionaries. The rest of the people are only being used to get t...
The Kufuor-led NPP government has also managed to polarize this country beyond imagination. There has been the deliberate attempt to turn the Akans against non-Akan speaking ethnic groups. But for the vigilance of Ghanaians, this country would have been in a more dangerous ethnic turmoil already. Until the murder of th...
How despite all these glaring facts and more, Mr. Kufuor managed to cling on to power remains the main question. The question is how? One obvious answer, which is becoming crystal clear is that even though the NPP was performance wise failing big time, they were leaving no stone unturned as far the entire electoral pro...
One day after the announcement that Shopko will close all of its stores in early June, the Coeur d’Alene location was full of shoppers.
“It’s no surprise,” said Keith Ekness of Coeur d’Alene, who said he doesn’t usually shop at Shopko but was curious about potential sales after he heard about the upcoming closure.
Ekness said he makes minor purchases at brick and mortar stores, but for specific items, he shops online.
Though Ekness said he’s sad to see stores like Shopko going out of business, he noted that online shopping is often cheaper and more convenient. For shoppers like Ekness, who is always looking for a bargain, buying at retail chains doesn’t always make sense.
Other shoppers were regulars at the retail chain, like Sandra Robertson of Coeur d’Alene, who said she visits Shopko frequently for clothes and home decor items. She said she likes Shopko’s selection and affordable prices.
“I’m 83 years old and I don’t want to look like an 83-year-old lady in a house dress,” she said with a laugh.
Robertson said she was saddened by the news of Shopko’s closing, just as she was when Kmart closed the doors of its Coeur d’Alene location. Stores that offer quality items at affordable prices are important to consumers, she said.
Coeur d’Alene resident Nadine Miller is also a Shopko regular.
When Shopko closes in June, Miller said she isn’t sure where she’ll go instead.
For Tina Johnson, who lives in Priest River, Shopko’s closing feels personal.
Johnson said she usually visits the Spokane locations. After learning in February that those stores would close in May, she said she hoped the Idaho locations would remain open. The announcement that all stores would soon shut their doors was disheartening, she said.
Shopko’s expected closing date is June 16.
When working on the mega hit Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens, one goal J.J. Abrams had in mind was to take the franchise back to its roots in terms of visual aesthetics. A key part of the marketing campaign was illustrating how the crew was going to blend the modern digital technology with practical effects ...
As a massive studio blockbuster in the 21st century, The Force Awakens certainly has no shortage of CGI imagery, but those who have seen the film will most likely agree that Abrams was successful in creating environments that felt real, a byproduct of his insistence to shoot as much as possible in-camera (including sea...
Corbould: Working with Rian [Johnson, director of Episode VIII], he’s very, very keen on the practical side of it... Personally, it’s something that I get a lot of excitement and satisfaction out of. I like to see my crew stretch to the limits. And I think if you can get the real practical elements in there, combined w...
Scanlan: When we started on the project, there is a language, there is a vocabulary, there’s a world that George [Lucas] created. It’s a unique world that George created. It’s what makes Star Wars what Star Wars is... And in order to push ahead and keep the films in their own unique genre, I think we have to hold on to...
When he visited the Force Awakens set in 2014, Johnson praised Abrams' commitment to utilizing practical effects, so it shouldn't come as a shock that he'll continue the practice in his movie. It also seems that the anthology films will follow Abrams' footsteps. Leaked set photos from Gareth Edwards' Rogue One have sho...
Scanlan: We have a slight problem in that we set a standard, and people very quickly become used to that standard... You can’t stand still, and hopefully the audience will see that there is an evolution throughout any film that comes out from now. None of us intend to stand still and hopefully keep pushing on and makin...
Corbould echoed this statement, telling us that it's on them to "keep upping the bar all the time." And that would remain true to the franchise's history. Each film tried to raise the ante with some kind of jaw-dropping special effects sequence; the original trilogy evolved from the Death Star trench run to the asteroi...
India’s linguistic imperialism: Tamil Nadu resents central imposition of Hindi on them!
There is a popular saying in Tamil Nadu which approximately says not to waste their time on unproductive things like an idling person having found no employment or work to be busy with, went on to shave a domestic animal.
The production house of Rajinikanth's 2.0 has sent a legal notice to T Vel Murugan, president of the TVK party in Tamil Nadu, for his defamatory comments on chairman Allirajah Subaskaran.
(AP) - Shaquille O'Neal is joining the ownership group of the Sacramento Kings.
The Kings announced Monday that O'Neal has acquired a minority stake in the team under new owner Vivek Ranadive. The Kings will introduce the four-time NBA champion at a news conference Tuesday in Sacramento.
O'Neal tormented the Kings during the height of his career with the Los Angeles Lakers, even dubbing the franchise the "Sacramento Queens." He also handed Sacramento its biggest blow by rallying the Lakers from a 3-2 deficit to win the 2002 Western Conference finals.
O'Neal retired after the 2010-11 season and has worked as an analyst for TNT the last two seasons.
No other modern military aircraft evokes the reaction generated by the Osprey. It's an engineering model and a target for abuse—and when it fails, as it did in yesterday's non-lethal crash that injured five Air Force crew members, the critics pile on. But this hand-wringing misses the true debate over the V-22. The Osp...
Capt. Art "Papi" Guzman, gaze fixed forward, strides through the hangar at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego. The stoic pilot is focused on the day's mission. His hard, square face probably wouldn't flinch if a tennis ball bounced off his forehead.
Guzman must haul 8600 pounds of high-octane aviation gasoline 100 miles north, over the peaks of the Chocolate Mountains. The trip will take 20 minutes. A half-hour after landing, the two Marines riding in the back will convert an empty patch of desert into a refueling station for Cobra attack helicopters that are cond...
This training mission is ideal for Guzman's ride. An MV-22 Osprey can carry 20,000 pounds of cargo (or 24 troops) internally. No other Marine heli copter can deliver this much fuel as quickly; the V-22 goes twice as fast as the tandem-rotor CH-46E Sea Knight and it can transport nearly three times the payload.
What makes the Osprey unique is its ability to tilt its rotors, producing more lift than thrust, which enables the airplane to hover and fly like a helicopter. Two Rolls-Royce AE 1107C-Liberty engines, each delivering 6150 shaft horsepower, are mounted within nacelles at the tip of each wing. Those nacelles can rotate ...
Two Ospreys have been charged with completing today's task; VMM-161, the Greyhawks, are training for an upcoming mission to Afghanistan and the squadron needs flight time. Under a leaden sky that promises more rain, Guzman's co-pilot and ground crews are prepping the Ospreys. Their rotors start to spin, the wash tracin...
The Osprey is not the same aircraft that was tested decades ago. Engineers have solved many of the problems that gave the aircraft its bad reputation.
Problem: Titanium hydraulic lines leading to the nacelles used to rub against wire harnesses. This created holes in the lines that caused fires; in 2000 one such fire contributed to a crash that killed four Marines.
Update: By 2005, the problematic hydraulic lines had been rerouted. They are now easier to access for evaluation and repair.
Problem: Rotorcraft that descend too quickly at slow speeds can lose lift if the rotor dips too far into its own downwash. This is called vortex ring state—an Osprey in VRS can lose lift on one side and flip; 19 Marines died in one such accident during the aircraft's development.
Update: Ospreys have audio and visual warnings that alert pilots when VRS conditions start to form. Pilots can tilt the rotors forward to escape, if the aircraft has enough altitude to maneuver.
Problem: Ospreys fly into landing zones that are defended by enemy fire (hot LZs). Critics once complained about the craft's lack of armaments.
Update: Some Ospreys now have 7.62-mm GAU miniguns mounted in their bellies; they are remotely operated by the crew inside the aircraft.
No other modern military aircraft evokes the reaction generated by the Osprey. It's an engineering marvel and a target of abuse. Crusading bloggers and politicians denigrate it; pilots and military brass say it is revolutionizing the concept of air mobility. Regardless, the aircraft is here to stay. The Marine Corps an...
With its ability to shape-shift, the V-22 is a complicated aircraft. Miles of hydraulic and fuel lines run through the wings, and the fuselage must be tough enough to resist deformation despite the movement of the two 971-pound engines. Adding to the challenge, the propellers must fold so the V-22 can operate from ship...
A litany of problems—leaking hydraulics, onboard fires, and in certain conditions, aeronautic instability—plagued the aircraft during its 30-year development. This troubled program took a human toll—30 Marines were killed in three crashes during testing. Engineers have systematically addressed the plane's design flaws ...
The stigma still lingers. In the past year the New York Times editorial board has denounced the V-22 as "accident-prone" and "unsafe." An April MV-22 crash during a training exercise in Morocco that killed two Marines will likely feed into this reputation.
But since its 2007 deployment the Osprey has proved to be safe while flying in some of the most inhospitable conditions imaginable. There has been only one fatal crash in combat: In 2010 in Afghanistan an Air Force CV-22 touched down short of its landing zone, hit a ditch, and flipped, killing four of the 20 aboard. "O...
The advantages that the Osprey brings to the battlefield have been displayed during deployment. Not only can V-22s carry larger payloads, but they can also cover more than four times the distance of the Sea Knight. For the Marines and special operators who rely on the Osprey's speed, those are crucial capabilities.
In 2010, a helicopter was wrecked during a raid in Afghanistan, stranding dozens of special operations soldiers who came under attack from small arms and mortar fire. When other helicopters were turned back by dust storms and the high peaks of the Hindu Kush, two CV-22s made the 800-mile rescue, soaring 15,000 feet and...
U.S. Air Force Maj. Brian Luce, a pilot with the 8th Special Operations Squadron, flew the Osprey in Afghanistan and saw firsthand how it turned doubters into converts. "Some of the guys have a little hesitancy," he says. "But then they ride with us and get from point A to point B in record time." Luce says mission pla...
Those benefits come at a steep price. The V-22's research and development program was supposed to cost just over $39 billion, but independent estimates predict that it will come to $56 billion—43 percent higher. This price tag—about $100 million per plane, including development costs—becomes a bull's-eye each time poli...
The White House's proposed 2013 budget trims 24 aircraft (from 122 to 98) over five years, saving $1.75 billion. But those orders could be reinstated during negotiations of the Pentagon's contract with Osprey maker Bell-Boeing. The fact that the Osprey has escaped the budget ax's deepest cuts confirms its improved repu...
Despite its successes, the V-22 still has something to prove. Critics have found another source of ammunition to aim at the hybrid aircraft that everyone loves to hate.
Guzman frowns at the darkening sky as he leaves the hangar. A cold rainstorm is lashing the area. The F/A-18s flying from the base have reported icing within a cloud layer between 5000 and 16,000 feet. Those clouds are blocking the mission's flight path over the Chocolate Mountains, which the pilots refer to as the Hil...
Most of the de-icing systems in the squadron's Ospreys are not working, placing the craft under Naval Air Systems Command—mandated restrictions that govern where Guzman can fly. This puts the mission in jeopardy.
"The amount of ice up there won't even degrade performance," Guzman says. "I could punch through to 16,000 feet and it'd be a clear ride to the other side of the Hill." These rules are relaxed in combat zones, but extra precaution is taken during training flights.
Late last year a report by the Pentagon's Office of Operational Test and Evaluation noted that from June 2007 to May 2010 the Marine Corps' Osprey mission-capable readiness was only 53 percent.
"It's tough [for maintainers] to keep them flying," says VMM-161's com mander, Lt. Col. Eric Gillard. "But people don't grasp that the V-22 is a leap ahead."
Guzman stalks onto the flight line and heads for his Osprey. He climbs through the door behind the cockpit and enters the cargo bay. It is stuffed with a chest-high fuel container, pump, and hoses that will become the temporary refueling station for the Cobras. The walls are lined with tightly secured bundles of expose...
Guzman enters the cockpit, nods at his co-pilot, sits in the right-side seat, and plugs in his headset. He is greeted with disappointing news: The mission has lost one bird to the malfunction of an auxiliary power unit. Another MV-22 will have to tag along later, following the mission's straggler plan. "This happens," ...
The twin engines shake the aircraft as it prepares to rise. The graphite and fiberglass blades whirl just outside the cockpit windows, chopping air in a dark blur. Guzman's left hand moves the throttle control lever (which governs the pitch of the rotors) forward, and with hardly a lurch, the MV-22 rises into the gray ...
The stubby windshield wipers beat back sheets of rain as the aircraft climbs to 1500 feet. After a few seconds Guzman plays his thumb across a wheel on the lever to change the angle of the nacelles.
Now in airplane mode—with the nacelles at 0 degrees, generating more thrust than lift—the Osprey climbs to 4500 feet, skirting the lower edge of the weather system and plowing east. The Marine pilot looks for a break in the clouds so he can zip through and drop to an ice-free altitude on the other side. But the clouds ...
He descends to 3000 feet, eyes constantly scanning the colorless mass. There's no way through. "Well, we tried," Guzman sighs into his headset.
Somewhere out in the desert, the Cobras are being refueled—by trucks. "The plane flies great," Guzman says, "when everything works."
When a helicopter's engine fails, the rotors continue to turn as the craft plummets, which creates enough lift for the pilot to make a controlled landing. Ospreys cannot perform this maneuver, called autorotation. They have other ways to land in an emergency, says Special Operations pilot Brian Luce. V-22s can take adv...
WHAT IF AN OSPREY LOSES AN ENGINE?
Each engine couples to another gearbox in the fuselage, so one engine can drive both rotors. "Unless I am very heavy or at a very high altitude," Luce says, "I can fly this thing single-engine all day, because of that interconnected driveshaft."
The same feats of engineering that make the Osprey such a game changer sap the aircraft's readiness for missions. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, a persistent Osprey critic, offered the following backhanded compliment last year as he lamented waste at the Pentagon from the floor of the Senate: "When it is not being repair...
Maintainers point out that, compared with legacy systems, the Osprey is still new. There are decades of knowledge on how to best service an aircraft like the Sea Knight, which has flown since the 1960s. Not so the V-22. "It's a new airframe and not too many people have worked on it," says Master Sgt. Simon Smith, a CV-...
He hustles, clipboard in hand, across the flight line at Hurlburt, home of Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC). He's a busy guy—he will leave home for predeployment training for Afghanistan the next day to supervise the maintenance of Ospreys used on recent missions. "No telling how long I'll be gone," he says...
The temporary duty assignment will be his 30th in 19 years. "Every time we change places, the environment adds different stresses on the airframe," he says. "The dust in Afghanistan clumps in different places than the dust in Iraq." These conditions play hell with the Osprey's performance. McCain cites Pentagon records...
But those figures fail to account for the Osprey's speed and size. Whittle points to an internal Marine Corps analysis that crunches the numbers by passenger seats—12 for the Sea Knight at a cost of $3.17 per seat per mile versus $1.76 for the 24-seat Osprey.
Special operations pilots like Luce say the maintainers are getting better with experience and that combat deployments have sped up the learning process. AFSOC does not release readiness rates, but at Hurlburt Field the CV-22 has earned a reputation as an attention hog yet gets decent reviews for readiness. "During my ...
He says the Osprey's notoriety is caused in part by its stature. "The CV-22 is high-visibility, sort of the flagship for AFSOC," he says. "It costs a lot of money, so people want to see results."

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