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Everyone loves a good road movie, whether it's Hope and Crosby or Fonda and Hopper. But the scope of those films pales in comparison to the ground covered by the Hayden Planetarium's new video, The Known Universe . The video starts in Tibet and zooms out through time and space until it shows well, the entire known universe. The video, created for the new Rubin Art Museum exhibit Visions of the Cosmos: From the Milky Ocean to an Evolving Universe , uses over a decade of data collected by researchers at the planetarium. Called the Digital Universe Atlas, the data encompasses the precise location of every object ever observed in the sky. From quasars to pulsars to black holes to nebulas, it's all there. The observable universe spans 13.7 billion light years, with the background radiation aftershock of the Big Bang as the oldest, and farthest, signal. At that end of the universe lies the oldest material in creation, which, thanks to billions of years of expansion, has accelerat...

by David Albright, Paul Brannan, and Andrea Scheel Stricker December 9, 2009 Reading the Pakistani A.Q. Khan's latest "leaks," one would think that China depended on Khan in the early 1980s to solve its problems in making weapon-grade uranium for its growing nuclear weapons arsenal.  Using recently stolen European gas centrifuge technology, Khan reportedly claims he helped China modernize its production of bomb-grade uranium 1 .  But the facts appear quite different.  China relied on its two gaseous diffusion plants to make its weapon-grade uranium, and its gas centrifuge program never took off. The most recent source of Khan's recent claims is a fascinating November 13, 2009 Washington Post article about China's nuclear cooperation with Pakistan in the late 1970s and early 1980s.  The Post drew upon several of Khan's written statements from late 2003 and early 2004 when he was desperately trying to defend himself in Pakistan against a growing...

First Kalima Also known as the Word of Purity or the kalima-e-tayyabah . word of purity There is no god except Allah. Muhammad is His messenger. Second Kalima Also known as the word of testimony or the kalima-e-shahaadat word of testification I bear witness that there is no god except Allah, Who is Alone and has no partners; And I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and messenger. Third Kalima Also known as the word of glorification or the kalima-e-tamjeed word of glorification Glory be to Allah. And praise be to Allah. And there is no god except Allah. And Allah is the Greatest. And there is no power and no strength except with Allah, the Most High, Most Great. Fourth Kalima Also known as the word of unity or the kalima-e-tawhid word of Oneness of Allah There is no god except Allah, Who is Alone and has no partners. For Him is the Dominion and for Him is all praise. He gives life and causes death. And He is Living and will never ever die. O...

Barry Grey   There is an element of immense recklessness in Washington's aggressive policy toward Pakistan. It is driving the country into civil war, which would rapidly destabilize the entire region and heighten the danger of war between India and Pakistan and between India and China, all three of which are nuclear powers. Russia and Iran would inevitably be drawn into the maelstrom as well. obama-terrorism-pakistan_0preview.jpg WSWS, 9 December 2009   One week ago, President Obama in a speech at West Point sought to portray his escalation of the war in Afghanistan as the prelude to an early withdrawal of US troops. It has since become increasingly apparent that the speech was nothing more than a calculated exercise in public deception.   The speech was crafted to chloroform the public, the better to defy and disorient mass popular opposition to the war.   It is now clear that the actual policy Obama has decided to pursue is not only the maintenance of an indefinite military occup...

It's your birthday, but we got the gift... a gentle, sweet, beautiful daughter who is always a pleasure to be with. You glow with sensitivity and compassion generated from the depths of your warm heart and and kind soul. A loving kid, a peacemaker, a darling full of the joy of life, that's you. Anyone who spends time with you is privileged to know such an extraordinary person. You are a great joy in our lives. We love you and cherish you and treasure you and wish that every one of your birthdays will be the happiest yet. It's your birthday beautiful child make a wish let your dreams run wild! We thank God, He blessed us with you a girlie girl in all you do. Big black eyes and wavy black hair little things to you are such a big fare. Fashion and makeup are what you like you always ask to ride your bike. You brushed the tooth til it was clean how happy it made you could surely be seen. In such a hurry to grow up big please slow down, child cuz I'm enjoying this gig! The ...

By Jeremy Scahill November 23, 2009 At a covert forward operating base run by the US Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) in the Pakistani port city of Karachi, members of an elite division of Blackwater are at the center of a secret program in which they plan targeted assassinations of suspected Taliban and Al Qaeda operatives, "snatch and grabs" of high-value targets and other sensitive action inside and outside Pakistan, an investigation by The Nation has found. The Blackwater operatives also assist in gathering intelligence and help direct a secret US military drone bombing campaign that runs parallel to the well-documented CIA predator strikes, according to a well-placed source within the US military intelligence apparatus. The source, who has worked on covert US military programs for years, including in Afghanistan and Pakistan, has direct knowledge of Blackwater's involvement. He spoke to The Nation on condition of anonymity because the program is classifi...

Dr Shahid faces life threats; Geo programme to be telecast from another location; bar widely condemned News Desk KARACHI: Under immense pressure from President Asif Ali Zardari on the Dubai government, 'Meray Mutabiq', the popular programme of Dr Shahid Masood on Geo TV, was banned from being telecast on Monday night from the Dubai studios of Geo TV. Dr Masood presented his programme from a different location without the use of his studio and technical facilities and announced that he had been stopped by the local authorities from presenting his programme. The popular talk show host also disclosed that he had received serious life threats from PPP leaders who had told him to come to Pakistan and conduct his programme from this country and then "we will see you". In an exact replay of the Musharraf era, the use of influence and pressure on a foreign government by the president of Pakistan is a direct attack on the freedom of the press in Pakistan, the Geo TV management...

In an unstable Pakistan, can nuclear warheads be kept safe? by Seymour M. Hersh November 16, 2009 In the tumultuous days leading up to the Pakistan Army's ground offensive in the tribal area of South Waziristan, which began on October 17th, the Pakistani Taliban attacked what should have been some of the country's best-guarded targets. In the most brazen strike, ten gunmen penetrated the Army's main headquarters, in Rawalpindi, instigating a twenty-two-hour standoff that left twenty-three dead and the military thoroughly embarrassed. The terrorists had been dressed in Army uniforms. There were also attacks on police installations in Peshawar and Lahore, and, once the offensive began, an Army general was shot dead by gunmen on motorcycles on the streets of Islamabad, the capital. The assassins clearly had advance knowledge of the general's route, indicating that they had contacts and allies inside the security forces. Pakistan has been a nuclear power for two decad...