Alert asymptomatic high blood pressure

A few days ago, a hospital cerebrovascular families receive two high blood pressure has cerebral hemorrhage patients. Patients were male, more fat, a 30 years old, a 38 years old, although after rescue survived, but are behind the hemiparalysis sequela. The doctor said the two men are not insist to take medicine of high blood pressure in stroke.

Young people are now common high blood pressure, some people have never had measured the blood pressure, and occasionally stay up dizzy, a blood pressure: high voltage 200 millimeters of mercury, low voltage 130 millimeters of mercury, after the break, blood pressure relatively down, no symptoms. Medical called asymptomatic high blood pressure. Because do not have a symptom, even know high blood pressure, and a lot of people don't pay attention to take medicine. The results of the prolonged hypertension, in old people can form atherosclerosis, the young form blood vessels glass samples change, the whole blood vessels become brittle, appear even the aneurysm. Once the overwork, excited, appear suddenly increased blood pressure, blood vessels will break up, cause cerebral hemorrhage stroke.

This kind of stroke end depending on the size of the bleeding and decide, there is little second half paralyzed hemiplegia, massive form cerebral hernia, it is difficult to rescue success. Young people and old standard of the hypotensive high blood pressure, blood pressure is higher than 140/80 MMHG, be about to treatment. However, in a different time, measuring three times higher than all this standard, then decided for high blood pressure, so the hospital to find the doctor diagnosed. First diagnosed to specific cause, eliminate caused and aggravating factors of high blood pressure. If renal artery stenosis is caused by high blood pressure, solve problems narrow, blood pressure is normal. If obesity, especially with short, severe obesity neck snoring, whether should be vigilant with sleep apnea syndrome.

If can solve sleep apnea problems, to control blood pressure have help. Early hypertension (high pressure 140 ~ 150 millimeters of mercury between) do not take medicine, only through the change eating habits, motion to reduce weight, a regular life and blood pressure can reduce 10 ~ 20 millimeters of mercury. But in this drug stage, in changing habits at the same time, must hold to the medicine. The best home for a blood pressure cuff, every morning and evening measuring a. Otherwise once hemiplegia, sorry for life.

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Export tax rebates to follow

Yesterday, the ministry of commerce's website the foreign trade development "1025" planning "(called" planning "), the total import and export volume again with an average annual growth rate target to 10% lower.

Specifically, in 2015, the total amount of foreign trade import and export to about $4.8 trillion, and mechanical and electrical products import and export total about $2.5 trillion.

In the tenth-five period, total import and export volume of the actual speed with an average annual growth rate is 24%. In 2006, in the establishment of "business development of the eleventh five-year plan for", the ministry of commerce will ever also adjusted for 10% average annual growth target, but, in the "eleventh five-year plan" period, import and export actual average annual growth of 15.9%, among them, 15.7% export, import 16.1%.

10% : compared with the actual

Foreign economic and trade university ZhaoZhongXiu vice President for the first financial daily (the Po) "reporter pointed out that, in fact, and a five year plan, compared to the" programming "and not much new, but there are some deal with short-term solutions to problems.

ZhaoZhongXiu think, for 10% of the growth prospects in the short run, to achieve this goal, or more stressful, because China for export parts can control factors is not much. And from the entire five years to see that the goal is more in line with practice.

China's ministry of commerce minister Chen deming also in this year to the media sessions, points out that the foreign trade growth expected this year to 10%, it is considered in the changes of the market and international various elements of the cost after rising, proposed the lower growth target. Chen deming think, export growth may be a bit lower than 10%, imports would a little higher, achieve 10% of the growth target is difficult, but it is also has hope.

Export tax rebates "to follow"

It is worth noting that, "planning" has been very popular in the attention at home and abroad in the "export tax rebates" field, more clearly pointed out the keep export drawback policy stability, perfect the export tax rebate system, timely and accurate tax refund. At the same time, to promote the export tax rebates sharing mechanism reform.

ZhaoZhongXiu to our reporter explained, China's export tax rebate system of taxation management, is always trailed behind. Compared with the foreign enterprise, Chinese foreign trade enterprise in before the final on export not only consumption tax, also levied VAT, for in the international market has a comparatively fair competition environment, the Chinese government will link the return to enterprise, is called "export tax rebates".

In the past, the export tax rebate rate as a kind of regulation of export growth tools were used, and implement first levied back way, such as one in hunan production factory, first in hunan taxed from VAT and consumption tax eventually, through to Shanghai port exports, except by the central return 92.5% of export tax rebates besides, Shanghai local governments also need to assume the export tax rebates of 7.5%.

ZhaoZhongXiu says: "the return of the collection and the process involves two places, chaos, often for a year or so, is actually no cost money diverted to the enterprise, especially for the funds more nervous of small and medium-sized foreign trade enterprise, especially big influence."

ZhaoZhongXiu suggest, to export tax rebates "to follow", as a long-term foreign trade policy to stick to it.

Exchange rate policy still faces game

Concerning the improvement of foreign financial policy, "planning" point out: "further improve the RMB exchange rate mechanism, keep the RMB exchange rate in reasonable basic stability of the equilibrium level." In a sizable portion of expert opinion, this shows that, in the exchange rate of foreign economic policy areas, and still faces macroeconomic policy between departments game

ZhaoZhongXiu to reporter pointed out that in the formation mechanism of exchange rate reform concrete problems, between departments is controersial. The key lies in the exchange rate is decided by the overall economy, or external economic decision; Is focus on the import and export of short-term exchange rate fluctuations on the influence of the order, or focus is on the whole exchange rate policy on macro economic impact. In the long term, this kind of systemic risk, it is not simple to lock, can only go step by step.

In fact, quite a number of foreign trade enterprise also began a series of exchange rate from the central bank in the reform measures smell the breath. The world's largest insurance powder production factory and the largest exporter of insurance powder willow group guangdong China chemical Co., LTD. Sales vice manager to our reporter YangXiaoChuan pointed out, from exchange rate fluctuations for the influence of foreign trade enterprise, it is important to, the enterprise must set out to the risk of exchange rate fluctuations accumulation management experience.

"So for the foreign trade companies, the yuan reform for every a settlement of exchange won't have too big effect, and in the short term, because of the economic situation is not so good, the yuan is very likely to be some value. But from the one-year terms, we will exchange management enterprise, if can, can earn about 2 million RMB, if management is bad, will be a deficit of 2 million yuan." YangXiaoChuan said, "in the long run, exchange rate would have to let go, gradually towards marketization, enterprise must also began gradually adapt to, so that build up enough knowledge, experience, and the use of financial tools ability."

Last known photo of missing Fort Bragg soldier released

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North Carolina authorities released the last known picture of the missing Fort Bragg soldier Kelli Bordeaux Thursday and say it was the outfit she wore to the night she went missing.  

Bordeaux, a 23-year-old combat medic with the 44th Medical Brigade, disappeared April 14 after leaving the bar in Fayetteville at around 1:20 a.m. Fort Bragg officials reported her missing two days later after she failed to report to duty. Authorities have searched woods and a pond in the area and have not reported any significant leads.

Nicholas Holbert, 25, who has been questioned twice in Bordeaux's disappearance, was taken into police custody for failing to register as a sex offender at his new address in Cumberland County, N.C., according to WRAL-TV.

The station also reported that the owner of the Froggy Bottoms bar -- where Bordeaux was last seen -- was arrested Monday on outstanding warrants unrelated to the soldier's disappearance.

Holbert, who has not been named a person of interest in the case, admitted to driving Bordeaux home the night she was last seen. He has reportedly denied any involvement in the woman's disappearance, telling WTVD-TV that he dropped Bordeaux off at the entrance of her neighborhood at her request.

"As soon as you drive into the entrance to Meadowbrook, she said stop right here," Holbert told the station. “So I stopped and she said, ‘I’ll walk home.’ I said, ‘Are you sure?’ She said, ‘Yeah.’ I said I figured she didn’t want me to know where she lived, or somebody was there and she didn’t want to be seen together."

Holbert, who was convicted in 2003 of indecent liberties with a 5-year-old child, told the station he was being unfairly targeted because of his criminal record.

On Monday, police also arrested 49-year-old Steven Cantrell, the owner of the Froggy Bottoms bar, for failing to appear in a Cumberland County courtroom on a driving while impaired charge in 2001.

FBI agents also had warrants for Cantrell's arrest in Boston for failing to pay $400,000 in child support payments to three different women, sheriff's officials told WRAL.

Bordeaux, who has blond hair and brown eyes, was last seen wearing a pink tank top and black shorts, police said. She is described as 5 feet, 1 inch tall, weighing 102 pounds.

Meanwhile, her husband says he's grateful for the community's effort to find his wife.

Mike Bordeaux said in an interview Thursday there have been no new leads in the search for his 23-year-old wife, Pfc. Kelli Bordeaux of St. Cloud, Fla.

Mike Bordeaux says investigators have questioned his whereabouts when she was reported missing. He was in Florida visiting his parents. Mike Bordeaux says there were no problems in their marriage and the couple had never visited that bar.

 

Analysts say North Korea's new missiles displayed at parade are fakes

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A half dozen ominous new North Korean missiles showcased at a lavish military parade were clumsy fakes, analysts say, casting more doubt on the country's claims of military prowess after its recent rocket launch failure.

The weapons displayed April 15 appear to be a mishmash of liquid-fuel and solid-fuel components that could never fly together. Undulating casings on the missiles suggest the metal is too thin to withstand flight. Each missile was slightly different from the others, even though all were supposedly the same make. They don't even fit the launchers they were carried on.

"There is no doubt that these missiles were mock-ups," Markus Schiller and Robert Schmucker, of Germany's Schmucker Technologie, wrote in a paper posted recently on the website Armscontrolwonk.com that listed those discrepancies. "It remains unknown if they were designed this way to confuse foreign analysts, or if the designers simply did some sloppy work."

The missiles, called KN-08s, were loaded onto the largest mobile launch vehicles North Korea has ever unveiled. Pyongyang gave them special prominence by presenting them at the end of the parade, which capped weeks of celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of the country's founding father, Kim Il Sung.

The unveiling created an international stir. The missiles appeared to be new, and designed for long-range attacks.

That's a big concern because, along with developing nuclear weapons, North Korea has long been suspected of trying to field an intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM, capable of reaching the United States. Washington contends that North Korea's failed April 13 rocket launch was an attempt to test missile technology rather than the scientific mission Pyongyang claims.

But after pouring over close-up photos of the missiles, Schiller and Schmucker, whose company has advised NATO on missile issues, argue the mock-ups indicate North Korea is a long way from having a credible ICBM.

"There is still no evidence that North Korea actually has a functional ICBM," they concluded, adding that the display was a "dog and pony show" and suggesting North Korea may not be making serious progress toward its nuclear-tipped ICBM dreams.

North Korea has a particularly bad track record with ICBM-style rockets. Its four launches since 1998 -- three of which it claimed carried satellites -- have all ended in failure.

North Korea also frequently overstates its military capabilities.

On Wednesday, one of its top military leaders, Vice Marshal Ri Yong Ho, claimed his country is armed with powerful modern weapons capable of defeating the United States "at a single blow." North Korea made another unusual claim Monday, promising "special actions" that would reduce Seoul's government to ashes within minutes.

Even so, the missiles displayed this month could foreshadow weapons that North Korea is still working on.

David Wright, a physicist with the Union of Concerned Scientists who has written extensively about North Korea's missile program, said he believes the KN-08s could be "somewhat clumsy representations of a missile that is being developed."

Wright noted that the first signs the outside world got of North Korea's long-range Taepodong-2 missile -- upon which the recent failed rocket was based -- was from mock-ups seen in 1994, 12 years before it was actually tested on the launch pad.

"To understand whether there is a real missile development program in place, we are trying to understand whether the mock-ups make sense as the design for a real missile," he said. "It is not clear that it has a long enough range to make sense for North Korea to invest a lot of effort in."

Theodore Postol, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and former scientific adviser to the U.S. Chief of Naval Operations, said the Taepodong-2 design remains the more real future threat -- though even that remains at least a decade away -- and the KN-08 is simply a smoke screen.

"I believe that these missiles are not only mock-ups, but they are very unlikely to be actual mock-ups of any missiles in design," he said. "Fabricating a missile like the KN-08 would require a gigantic indigenous technical effort. ... The only way North Korea could develop such a missile with its pitiful economy would be if someone gave it to them."

He noted that a comparable U.S. missile, the Minuteman III, required "decades of expertise in rocket motors, and vast sums of intellectual, technological and financial capital."

Much attention, meanwhile, has been given to the 16-wheel mobile launchers that carried the missiles during the parade, which experts believe may have included a chassis built in China. That raises questions of whether China has violated U.N. sanctions against selling missile-related technology to Pyongyang.

Some missile experts say the launchers were designed to carry a larger missile than the 18-meter-long KN-08, and argue that North Korea would not have spent millions of dollars on them unless it has, or intends to have, a big missile to put on them.

But Wright said the launchers, like the missiles they carried, could also have been more for show than anything else.

"Given the international attention it has gotten from parading these missiles you could argue that the cost of buying the large trucks -- which add a lot of credibility to the images of the missiles -- was money well spent in terms of projecting an image of power," he said

 

Social Security is a Ponzi scheme

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By Judge Andrew P. Napolitano

When Texas Gov. Rick Perry, then in the early stages of his short-lived quest for the Republican presidential nomination, referred to Social Security as "a Ponzi scheme," he was excoriated by the press, left and right, and by his fellow Republicans, as well. Earlier this week, government actuaries revealed that Perry was correct.

That revelation, which was greeted with a ho-hum by the media, basically announced that by 2033, 21 years from now, the so-called "Social Security trust fund" will be empty. 

The only reason this was even announced is because we are approaching a presidential election campaign, and in response to Perry's much-derided claim, the government's actuaries, who originally told the Obama administration and the public that the fund would be solvent until 2036, re-examined their numbers and concluded that it will be in the red three years earlier than they thought.

This revelation should come as no surprise to those who monitor the government and its deceptive ways. When he first introduced Social Security, President Franklin D. Roosevelt argued that under Social Security the federal government would be holding your money for you. He deceptively fostered the idea that Social Security would be a savings account, into which employees and employers would make contributions and out of which guaranteed monies would be paid to those who reached the age of 65. Essentially, he claimed that you'd get your money back.

The politicians believed him, but the actuaries and the judiciary understood that the government would never hold anyone's money for him — as if it were the custodian of a bank account. In the first of several challenges to the constitutionality of Social Security, the Supreme Court found that the Social Security fund did not consist of your money. It was merely tax revenue.

Did you know that?

It also held that since Congress' law-making authority is limited to the 16 discrete delegated powers granted to it in the Constitution (a truism few in Congress accept as binding) but its spending authority is open-ended (a conclusion that must torment James Madison's ghost), Congress could collect funds, claim it was holding the funds in a savings account and then spend those funds as it saw fit — for those in need after age 65 or for any other purpose.

Did you know that?

And, in a curious yet revealing one-liner in the Supreme Court opinion upholding the constitutionality of Social Security, even the court recognized that there would be no trust fund in the traditional sense when it found that the tax dollars collected and supposedly designated for Social Security were "not earmarked in any way."

Did you know that?

Eventually, the government would acknowledge that what it first called a savings account and then called old-age insurance and then said would be fortified by a trust fund did not even establish a contractual obligation to those who have paid the Social Security tax — which would be all of us. 

Thus, the Feds have conceded and the courts have agreed that the money you have involuntarily contributed to the so-called trust fund is not yours and can be spent by the government as it pleases, just like any other revenue that the Feds collect.

Did you know that?

The trust fund is not money that the government "holds" for you, as FDR promised. 

It is not money to which you have a lawful claim, as he claimed. 

It is not a guarantee for you, as he led the public to believe. 

The so-called "trust fund" is merely the difference between what is collected and what is paid out. And the Feds just acknowledged that in 21 years, they are likely to pay out more than they will collect.

Perry did not succeed this time in his quest for the Republican presidential nomination. But he did succeed in articulating a hard truth: The same federal government that prosecutes people like Bernie Madoff for paying out more than they collect does the very same thing under the color of law.

Is a Ponzi scheme — which is basically theft by deception — lawful just because the government runs it? The Supreme Court has said yes. Perry has said no.

Governor Perry is correct.

‘Fake dentist’ arrested, allegedly treated patients at home

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A man has been arrested for practicing dentistry out of his Long Island, N.Y., home without any formal medical or dental training, the Long Island Press reported Thursday.

Police arrested Manuel Carranza, 46, on Wednesday after they received a tip about the alleged unlicensed dental practice.  The home office reportedly contained dental equipment as well as a number of prescription medications and two stun guns.

According to the Long Island Press, Carranza also possessed a forged New York State identification card.

Carranza was charged with unauthorized practice of a crime, possession of a forged instrument, possession of a dangerous weapon and criminal diversion of a prescription.

 

what symptom High blood fat have

High blood fat is easy to ignore the problem, blood fat tall if less than hospital, patient is not know, because in initial will not have any symptoms, if high to a certain degree, have certain symptoms, has caused the damage of the tissues and organs. Wait until the organ damage, this is not our purpose, let's purpose is to have no symptoms in the time intervention treatment. I advise you, especially in our country is gradually improve the living standards, eating more and more high, high cholesterol, high quantity of heat food is more and more, I suggest that this is the case, is very good, life very diet rich, at ordinary times and not so movement of the white-collar or is economic good these people, want to periodically to the hospital for medical examination, health check, discovered early problems of the lipid metabolism disorders, lest appear after organ damage, come back to the cure is late.

 

We hope in patients of the early days of dyslipidemia when to intervene, do not let the patient's organ is caused damage, also is not to happen artery atherosclerosis.

Generally speaking, in old people a year a physical examination is enough

 

 

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Secrets of the Ford Mustang

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By Rob Sass

The Ford Mustang is an April baby, debuting at the New York World’s Fair in April 1964. It’s become one of America’s best-loved automotive nameplates. But there are a few things about the legendary Mustang that most people don’t know. Here are five of them:

1. Ford had used the Mustang name before on a car: The Mustang I of 1962 was a mid-engine concept car with a strange little V-4 engine. It shared almost nothing with the car that eventually became famous other than the soon-to-be famous name.
2. Ford couldn't call it the Mustang in Germany: A scooter company of all things held the rights to the name “Mustang” in Germany and Ford declined to purchase the rights for a reputedly paltry $10,000, Thus, the Mustang was known as the Ford T5 in Germany.
3. It was named after a WWII fighter plane, not a wild horse: It is generally believed that the Mustang acquired its name from the wild unbroken North American horse known as a Mustang. In truth, the car was named for the famous air war-winning North American P-51 Mustang, the WWII mount of famed test pilot and ace Chuck Yeager.
4. Toyota copied it: At the 1971 Tokyo Motor Show, more than a few eyebrows were raised when Toyota raised the curtain on its new Celica liftback. Several observers commented that it was essentially a 2/3 scale replica of the 1967 Ford Mustang Fastback.
5. Ford nearly killed it off: In the late 1980s, Ford toyed with the notion of killing off the Mustang in favor of the Mazda-based sporty car the Ford Probe. Mustang fans became incensed at the notion of a Japanese-engineered front wheel-drive car with no V-8 option replacing their beloved Mustang. Fortunately for all of us who worship the 2005 redesign of the Mustang and all of the wonderful variants that it has spawned, it didn’t happen.

Boost Credit Score With Help From a Friend

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Dear Credit Card Adviser,

I've read that if someone who has excellent credit puts you on their credit card as an authorized user, it can help raise your credit score. If this is true, how does this work?

- Edward

Dear Edward,

Being an authorized user on someone else's credit card account may raise your credit score. It depends on how the account is handled, your overall credit history and which scoring model is used to calculate your credit rating.

What you'll see on your credit report is the payment history for the shared account. You won't see other accounts from the main cardholder's credit report on yours unless your name is on those accounts as well. In addition, your credit score won't merge with the other person's credit score because of the shared account. Your credit score only considers information from your individual credit file.

If the primary account holder has paid the credit card account on time and continues to do so while maintaining reasonable monthly balances, the account could have a beneficial effect on your credit score. If the main account holder starts to miss payments or maxes out the card, both of your credit scores could suffer.

However, credit reporting agency Experian only reports positive payment history for authorized user accounts. "If the account becomes negative, we automatically remove it from the authorized user's credit history," spokesman Rod Griffin said in an email.

If you are concerned about the credit score impact of the account, ask the credit card issuer to take you off the account as an authorized user. Since you are not responsible for payments as an authorized user, the issuer will likely honor your request. You also can ask the credit reporting agencies to remove the account from your credit file.

That said, not every credit score formula considers authorized user accounts in scoring. The most widely used credit score, known as the FICO score, does include them in scoring. But it has a methodology in place to minimize score inflation as a result of the controversial practice of "piggybacking" as an authorized user on the credit card account of a stranger with great credit. VantageScore, a rival credit score developed jointly by the three major credit reporting agencies -- Equifax, Experian and TransUnion -- did not include authorized user accounts in scoring in its original version. VantageScore 2.0 does count authorized user accounts.

Because authorized user accounts are not always factored into the credit score of the authorized user, it's a good idea to have some credit accounts in your own name.

If someone else makes you an authorized user on a credit card account, monitor the account to make sure it is not harming your credit score. One way to do that is by checking your credit report periodically. Under federal law, you're entitled to request a free copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit reporting agencies once every 12 months through AnnualCreditReport.com.

 

Syria violence rages, France tells U.N. to hurry

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BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian forces shot dead four civilians on a bus on Wednesday and fighting raged near Damascus, dissidents said, as international pressure mounted on President Bashar al-Assad to honor U.N.-backed ceasefire pledges to order his troops back to barracks.

In the city of Hama, an anti-Assad hotbed, an explosion ripped through a building, killing at least 12 people and wounding dozens more, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Another activist group, the grassroots Local Coordination Committee, said the blast was caused by a rocket launched into the building and put the death toll much higher at 54, including several children.

A third activist source said the explosion may have come from inside the building. It was not immediately possible to reconcile the varying accounts.

There was no comment from Syria's government, which says it is committed to U.N.-Arab League peace envoy Kofi Annan's April 12 ceasefire accord, but reserves the right to respond to what it says are continued attacks by "terrorist groups".

Hama has been hosting a small team of United Nations observers, who are preparing the way for a larger U.N. mission which will arrive to monitor the ceasefire pact.

In defiance of the truce accord, shelling was relentless in Douma, east of the capital, residents said, giving further ammunition to Western states such as France that want broad United Nations sanctions to try to end more than a year of fighting in which 9,000 people have been killed.

As well as urging faster deployment of U.N. monitors, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Paris would push for a so-called "Chapter 7" resolution, which would mean punitive sanctions, next month if Assad's forces did not pull back.

"This cannot continue indefinitely. We want to see observers in sufficient numbers, at least 300 ... deployed as quickly as possible," Juppe said.

"If that does not work, we cannot allow the regime to defy us. We would have to move to a new stage with a Chapter 7 resolution at the United Nations to take a new step to stop this tragedy."

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said four people were killed when security forces opened fire on a bus at a checkpoint on the main road from Aleppo to Damascus.

An elderly man was also killed, it added, in heavy fighting in the southern city of Deraa, crucible of the anti-Assad revolt that flared 13 months ago after uprisings against autocratic leaders in North Africa and the Middle East.

A woman who visited Douma on Tuesday night said the town had been under constant shelling and was without water, power or mobile phone signal. Pro-government gunmen were wandering the streets, she added, preventing people from leaving their homes.

"There was bombardment all night. Artillery and tanks. We didn't sleep at all. Not for a moment," the woman told Reuters in neighboring Lebanon. "Most residents have gone down to live on the ground floor because most of the second and third floors have been hit."

U.N. LAMPOONED

There was no mention of the bus shooting or bombardment in Syria's rigidly controlled media or comment from the authorities in Damascus, which has barred most foreign journalists since the revolt started.

Annan, a former U.N. secretary-general, told the Security Council on Tuesday that Syria had failed to withdraw weapons from population centers in violation of the terms of the April 12 truce he engineered.

"Everything we have seen suggests that the Syrians are wanting to play for time and they haven't any real intention to start a political process and a transition. But we need to call their bluff, as it were, and test that," a senior Western diplomat told reporters in New York on condition of anonymity.

The latest violence comes two days after 31 people were killed in Hama immediately after U.N. monitors left the area and may prompt more outside pressure on Assad.

Damascus says 2,600 of its security personnel have been killed by the rebel armed groups that operate in parts of the country of 23 million.

"The situation in Syria continues to be unacceptable," Annan told the 15-nation Security Council. "The Syria authorities must implement their commitments in full and a cessation of violation in all its forms must be respected by all parties."

He stressed the need to get "eyes and ears on the ground", but peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous said it would take a month to deploy the first 100 monitors of the UNSMIS mission - a time frame that drew derision from ordinary Syrians.

"It takes them a month to arrive? Are they coming on horses?" asked a resident of Homs, a city which has endured constant army shelling. He declined to give his real name.

The reasons for the slow deployment were not clear, although diplomats said Norwegian General Robert Mood, who led a U.N. negotiating team to Syria this month, had been made its head.

So far, there are only 15 unarmed monitors in Syria out of a planned final team of 300, a frustratingly thin presence for the opposition activists who say they have noted some decline in the daily death toll.

In a display of Syrian black humor, some activists have mocked the monitors, appearing on video in spoof blue uniforms and with blacked-out glasses and tissue paper stuffed into their ears - pretending neither to see nor hear anything untoward.

"After one month we will have maybe 1,000 or 2,000 people killed - it's ridiculous. How can the international community watch without moving quickly?" asked Mousab al-Hamadi, an opposition resident in Hama province, a hotbed of the revolt.

RUSSIAN DOUBTS

Annan said Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem had written to him saying that "the withdrawal of massed troops and heavy weapons from in and around population centers is now complete and military operations have ceased".

However, Annan's team cited satellite imagery as evidence that tanks are lurking out of sight on the outskirts of cities. Even Syria's ally Russia voiced concern.

Russia's U.N. ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, said it would be worrying if Damascus had failed to withdraw troops and weapons.

"If this is the case, if the promise in the letter has not really been carried out, that would mean it is a breach of the promise they made on Saturday," Churkin said. "I'm certainly going to bring it to the attention of Moscow."

Throughout the conflict, Russia has been one of Assad's few friends, providing protection at the United Nations from any Security Council measures.

For all the rhetoric, France and other Western powers have few tools to dislodge Assad, who succeeded his long-ruling father Hafez al-Assad in 2000 and who has brushed aside all calls to hand over power.

They are particularly wary of military intervention similar to NATO's Libya air campaign that helped topple Muammar Gaddafi for fear it could draw in powerful Assad allies such as Iran and Hezbollah militants and further destabilize the Middle East.