tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-173439792024-03-14T02:37:04.708-05:00LadyBroadoak Visionary Planetary Healing Tutorial<b>May be slow to load,items coming from other servers.</b>ladybroadoakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11525308772572314967noreply@blogger.comBlogger5916125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17343979.post-29050244839647993392012-05-17T12:01:00.001-05:002012-05-17T12:01:01.567-05:00The Case for a Financial WikiLeaks | Ian Fraser<a href="http://www.ianfraser.org/how-financial-whistleblowers-can-avoid-being-stabbed-in-the-back/">The Case for a Financial WikiLeaks | Ian Fraser</a><br />
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<h1 class="singlePageTitle" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #093d72; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 30px; font-weight: normal !important; letter-spacing: -1px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px 0px 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Case for a Financial WikiLeaks</h1><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;">By <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/brett-scott" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #093d72; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Brett Scott</a></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;">May 15th, 2012 (edited May 16th, 2012)</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.ianfraser.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Whistle-blower-stabbed-in-back.jpg" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #093d72; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-6894" height="365" src="http://www.ianfraser.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Whistle-blower-stabbed-in-back.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); display: block; margin: 0px auto; outline: 0px; padding: 2px; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Whistle blower stabbed in back" width="620" /></a></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;">The greatest barriers to financial whistleblowing are social and economic, not legal. Fear of being shunned by colleagues, passed over for promotion, bullied and harrassed, summarily dismissed and even shut out of Wall Street or the City for life plays a big part in dissuading executives who become aware of crimes and misdemeanours inside their organisations from blowing the whistle.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;">Occasionally, as we saw with Greg Smith and his remarkable New York Times op-ed <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/14/opinion/why-i-am-leaving-goldman-sachs.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1335684373-iLizZe2mxPq3NOyRariJIQ" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #093d72; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Why I Am Leaving Goldman Sachs</a>, an employee’s conscience gets the better of them. But fear of being ostracised for “spoiling the party”, coupled with an attachment to the high pay that a financial career can bring (you might call it ‘moral cowardice’) is sufficient to persuade the vast majority of putative whistleblowers to keep schtoom.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;">That’s why I believe we need a financial version of the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks. It would protect employees from management retribution and eliminate the social barriers to speaking out. There are already several leak sites available (check out the <a href="http://leakdirectory.org/index.php/Leak_Site_Directory" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #093d72; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Leak site directory</a>).</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://wikileaks.org/" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #093d72; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">WikiLeaks</a> has previously been used for financial leaks relating to the banks <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_Julius_Baer_vs._WikiLeaks" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #093d72; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Julius Baer</a> and <a href="http://wikileaks.org/wiki/Barclays_Bank_gags_Guardian_over_leaked_memos_detailing_offshore_tax_scam,_16_Mar_2009" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #093d72; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Barclays</a>, and in 2011 there was speculation that it was sitting on a treasure trove of incriminating information that might bring down Bank of America (In the end the emails, published at <a href="http://bankofamericasuck.com/03/13/ex-bank-of-ameica-employee-can-prove-mortgage-fraud-part-1" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #093d72; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">bankofamericasuck.com</a> and <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?d16i37138t1581y" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #093d72; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">here</a>, turned out to be something of a damp squib. Dating from November 2010, the emails suggest that employees of Balboa Insurance Group, a subsidiary of Bank of America, removed documents from loan files relating to a group of insured properties).</div><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;">WikiLeaks though, has mostly made a name for itself in exposing <em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">political </em>controversies. People don’t predominantly think of it as the place to go to find out about <em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">corporate </em>wrongdoing, and corporate disclosures on the site run the risk of being drowned out by the drone of government abuse.</div><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;">One organization that does specialize in corporate disclosure is<a href="http://www.ianfraser.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Anonymous-Analytics.jpg" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #093d72; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="" class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-6917" height="160" src="http://www.ianfraser.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Anonymous-Analytics-150x150.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); float: right; margin: 5px 0px 0px 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Anonymous Analytics" width="160" /></a><a href="http://www.qfinance.com/blogs/ian-fraser/2011/09/28/anonymous-takes-aim-at-the-cozy-world-of-investment-analysis" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #093d72; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Anonymous Analytics</a>, whose focus is on ”acquiring information through unconventional means” (a.k.a. hacking and subterfuge) and presenting it in the form of investment analysis reports. The group, whose stated aim is to “provide the public with investigative reports exposing corrupt companies” and whose team includes “analysts, forensic accountants, statisticians, computer experts, and lawyers from various jurisdictions and backgrounds” caused a stir last September when it exposed alleged large-scale fraud at <a href="http://www.qfinance.com/blogs/ian-fraser/2011/09/28/anonymous-takes-aim-at-the-cozy-world-of-investment-analysis" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #093d72; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Chaoda Modern Agriculture</a>, a Hong Kong-listed company. Anonymous Analytics claimed that Chaoda was:-</div><blockquote style="background-color: #efefef; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(191, 187, 187); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-left-color: rgb(191, 187, 187); border-left-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px 3px; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 10px; quotes: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“overstating its cash balance, exaggerating its revenue, and falsifying its financial statements.”</div></blockquote><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;">Last week <a href="http://www.qfinance.com/blogs/ian-fraser/2011/09/28/anonymous-takes-aim-at-the-cozy-world-of-investment-analysis" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #093d72; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Anonymous Analytics</a> initiated coverage of another Hong Kong-listed company <a href="http://anonanalytics.com/pdf/Huabao.pdf" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #093d72; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Huaboa International</a>. In a 44-page report entitled “Smoke and Mirrors”, it alleged Huabao overpaid for several companies acquired from its chairwoman, Chu Lam Yiu. The research note also questioned the veracity of Huabao’s financial statement and performance data. The report stated that:-</div><blockquote style="background-color: #efefef; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(191, 187, 187); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-left-color: rgb(191, 187, 187); border-left-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px 3px; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 10px; quotes: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-top: 5px; outline: 0px; padding: 5px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;">“We believe management is materially overstating Huabao’s earning power … [Huaboa International] is a pump and dump scheme with the primary objective of enriching its chairwoman.”</div></blockquote></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;">While Anonymous Analystics specializes in ‘primary research’, it also briefly offered a <a href="https://anonanalytics.com/drop_box" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #093d72; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">dropbox facility</a> for would-be whistleblowers. This was recently closed down. The offshoot of the hacker group claimed this was because it had been unable to handle the volume of tips, comments and emails it had received.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;">Organisations such Anonymous Analytics are firmly focused on overt cases of corporate fraud and headline-grabbing controversies. Nevertheless, while having channels to expose criminality is important, there are many other equally valid reasons to create a financial leaks site.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;">WikiLeaks’s release of the US <a href="http://wikileaks.org/cablegate.html" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #093d72; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Embassy Cables</a>, which commenced in November 2010, didn’t provide much sensational news, but it did provide a rare window into the normally opaque worlds of diplomacy and espionage and the conflict between the State department and more nefarious arms of the US state. It will be an invaluable resource for academic researchers and journalists for years to come. But there are few, if any, such open windows into the financial sector.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.ianfraser.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/safe-deposit-box.jpg" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #093d72; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-6913" height="145" src="http://www.ianfraser.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/safe-deposit-box-300x225.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); float: left; margin: 5px 10px 0px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Safe Deposit with Cash" width="185" /></a>The Safe Deposit Box: A Tool for Transparency</strong></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;">This, coupled with the inadequacy of most financial regulators around the world, is why a specialised financial leak site is so badly needed.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;">Here’s my back-of-the-envelope sketch for the <em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Safe Deposit Box</em>, a site that would improve transparency in financial institutions (including banks, insurers, funds, brokers) and commodity trading outfits, by providing a channel that would encourage internal leaks. It could be curated by individuals with financial expertise, such that information leaked could be vetted for accuracy and presented correctly (something that non-specialist leak sites would be unable to do). The site could be split into two main divisions with different purposes:</div><ul style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; list-style: square inside; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;"><li style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; color: #4c4c4c; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 0px 2px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;">A whistleblowing section to allow employees of banks and other financial institutions to expose dubious behaviour, including instances of financial crime, market manipulation, insider trading, ‘creative’ accounting and rogue trading.</li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; color: #4c4c4c; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 0px 2px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;">A transparency initiative focused on shedding light on the inner workings of financial institutions. This section would encourage employees to contribute information such as organisational structures, divisional strategies, risk exposures, compensation, and other information that helps to break the near impenetrable wall of secrecy (<em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">omertà)</em> large financial institutions frequently enjoy.</li>
</ul><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;">Many people intuitively understand the value of division one, but division two is perhaps harder to justify. What’s the point of transparency for transparency’s sake, some might ask? I would argue that banks and other financial institutions still enjoy huge political clout (and indeed some are owned by the public), yet citizens have virtually no insight into their inner workings and strategies, including who they are lending to, how they treat distressed assets, or their level of speculation on energy and food prices. (see “<a href="http://www.wdm.org.uk/blog/barclays-accepts-award-its-role-causing-hunger-across-world" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #093d72; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Barclays shame award</a>“)</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;">For example, I suspect that the residents of Chicago do not have the faintest idea of how a Morgan Stanley consortium came to own <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-09/morgan-stanley-group-s-11-billion-from-chicago-meters-makes-taxpayers-cry.html" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #093d72; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">the city’s parking meters</a>. I also suspect the residents of Edinburgh have no idea how a RBS consortium came to own the city’s main hospital, the <a href="http://www.nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk/OurOrganisation/KeyDocuments/Royal%20Infirmary%20of%20Edinburgh%20PFI%20Agreements/Volume7-Shareholder_Documents.pdf" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #093d72; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Edinburgh Royal Infirmary</a>.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;">At a systemic level, the very opacity of financial transactions increases systemic risk, which in turn has a massive impact broader society. Providing a channel for financial employees to shed light on their organisations would have: (1) a democratic empowerment benefit and (2) A research and regulation benefit, providing more material for citizens, academics and regulators to understand and monitor the financial sector.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;">The transparency initiative could be split into specific research domains that are of particular concern (or ought to be) to journalists, researchers, campaigners, regulators, and even some politicians. For example, domains could include:</div><ul style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; list-style: square inside; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;"><li style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; color: #4c4c4c; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 0px 2px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;">A high-pay transparency programme to gather leaked payrolls, compensation reports and other material to help in monitoring financial incentive systems.</li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; color: #4c4c4c; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 0px 2px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;">A tax haven programme to gather lists of subsidiaries, offshore transactions and other material to help shed light on tax avoidance systems.</li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; color: #4c4c4c; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 0px 2px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;">A loan transparency programme to gather information on loan portfolios of the banks’ corporate banking divisions, thereby helping keep tabs on socially and environmentally irresponsible lending</li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; color: #4c4c4c; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 0px 2px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;">A programme gathering information on banks’ dealings with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politically_exposed_person" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #093d72; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Polically Exposed Persons</a> (including deposed dictators and their families), authoritarian regimes, and dodgy individuals</li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; color: #4c4c4c; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 0px 2px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;">A systemic risk programme gathering info on prop trading levels, interbank risk exposures, and shadow banking systems</li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; color: #4c4c4c; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 0px 2px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;">A programme collecting information on ‘mis-selling’ and poor customer service (aka. treating clients as muppets)</li>
</ul><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;">I don’t want to be flippant. I also accept that actively encouraging breaches of confidentiality might border on being illegal. Yet confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements are often used by banks to bury frauds and other issues of concern, whose victims are often outside the institution that perpetrates them.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;">For example, in my research into the potentially damaging effects of commodity speculation, I hit a brick wall when seeking to establish how much banks earn from their agricultural commodity trading desks. They simply don’t report it, and stonewall all requests for information.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;">I recognise that that leak sites are far from perfect mechanisms and that innumerable issues would have to be overcome before a site along the lines I describe could be launched.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;">These would include how it would be structured and who would be permitted to access the information. Would it be better to use a centralised WikiLeaks structure, or something more decentralised along the lines OpenLeaks (set up by Wikileaks defectors, but yet to launch)? Might it be better to consider something more conciliatory and collaborative, more like Wikipedia, a financial commons that would allow people with financial expertise to freely and anonymously contribute?</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;">What I do know though, is that financial secrecy benefits a very small <a href="http://www.ianfraser.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Acme-Thunderer-Whistle.jpg" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #093d72; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="" class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-6928" height="110" src="http://www.ianfraser.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Acme-Thunderer-Whistle-150x150.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); float: right; margin: 5px 0px 0px 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Acme Thunderer Whistle" width="110" /></a>section of society, but harms a very large section of society, and I’m also sure that there are a great many financial workers who would love the opportunity to spread the love by spreading the knowledge. There again, there’s always the risk that such a site might also attract the attention of the <a href="http://wikileaks.org/Banking-Blockade.html" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #093d72; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">financial blockade</a>.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The <a href="http://www.suitpossum.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/safe-deposit-box-creating-financial.html" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #093d72; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">original version</a> of this article was headlined</em> The Safe Deposit Box: Creating a Financial Wikileaks. <em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Written by <a href="https://plus.google.com/113072710534870591381" rel="author" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #093d72; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Brett Scott</a>, who operates as a consultant bridging the gap between finance and those involved in socio-environmental justice and international development. He has also written for the Guardian, the Ecologist, New Internationalist and Open Democracy. Brett blogs at <a href="http://www.suitpossum.blogspot.com/" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #093d72; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">www.suitpossum.blogspot.com</a> and tweets as <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/Suitpossum" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #093d72; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">@Suitpossum</a>. He is a fellow of the <a href="http://thefinancelab.org/" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #093d72; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">WWF/ICAEW Finance Innovation Lab</a>.</em></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br />
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<li class="updatedBy" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: url(http://stmedia.startribune.com/designimages/graySeparator2.gif); background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 2px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; color: #999999; display: inline; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 0px;">Updated: April 16, 2012 - 9:36 PM</li>
</ul><div class="headingIntro" style="border-top-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; font-size: 1.33em; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 8px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 10px;">"</div><div class="headingIntro" style="border-top-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; font-size: 1.33em; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 8px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 10px;">Big<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal;">Two years after President Obama vowed to eliminate the danger of financial institutions becoming "too big to fail," the nation's largest banks are bigger than they were before the nation's credit markets seized up and required unprecedented bailouts by the government.</span><br />
<div style="font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Five banks -- J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., Wells Fargo & Co., and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. -- held $8.5 trillion in assets at the end of 2011, equal to 56 percent of the U.S. economy, according to central bankers at the Federal Reserve.</div><div style="font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Five years earlier, before the financial crisis, the largest banks' assets amounted to 43 percent of U.S. output. The Big Five today are about twice as large as they were a decade ago relative to the economy, sparking concern that trouble at a major bank would rock the financial system and force the government to step in as it did in 2008 with the Fed-assisted rescue of Bear Stearns Cos. by J.P. Morgan and with Citigroup and Bank of America after the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, the largest in U.S. history.</div><div style="font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">"Market participants believe that nothing has changed, that too-big-to-fail is fully intact," said Gary Stern, former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.</div><div class="subhead" style="font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Eroding faith</div><div style="font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">That specter is eroding faith in Obama's pledge that taxpayer-funded bailouts are a thing of the past. It is also exposing him to criticism from Federal Reserve officials, Republicans and Occupy Wall Street supporters, who see the concentration of bank power as a threat to economic stability.</div><div style="font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">As weaker firms collapsed or were acquired, a handful of financial giants emerged from the crisis. Since then, J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo have continued to grow internally and through acquisitions from European banks, reeling from government austerity measures related to the rising cost of public debt in Greece, Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Italy.</div><div style="font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The industry's evolution defies the president's January 2010 call to "prevent the further consolidation of our financial system."</div><div style="font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Simon Johnson, a former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, blames a "lack of leadership at Treasury and the White House" for the failure to fulfill that promise. "It'd be safer to break them up," he said.</div><div style="font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The Obama administration rejects the criticism, citing new safeguards to head off further turmoil in the banking system. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in remarks on Feb. 2 the U.S. financial system is "significantly stronger than it was before the crisis." He credits new regulations, including tougher capital and liquidity requirements that limit risk-taking by the biggest banks, authority to take over failing big institutions and prohibitions on the largest banks acquiring competitors.</div><div style="font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The government's financial system rescue, beginning with the 2008 Troubled Asset Relief Program, angered millions of taxpayers and helped give rise to the Tea Party movement. Banks and bailouts remain unpopular: By a margin of 52 percent to 39 percent, respondents in a February Pew Research Center poll called the bailouts "wrong" and 68 percent said banks have a mostly negative impact on the country.</div><div class="subhead" style="font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Riding out turbulence</div><div style="font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The banks say they have increased their capital backstops in response to regulators' demands, making them better able to ride out unexpected turbulence. J.P. Morgan, whose chief executive officer, Jamie Dimon, acknowledged public "hostility" toward bankers in a March 30 letter to shareholders, boasted April 13 of a "fortress balance sheet." Bank of America, which was about 50 percent larger at the end of 2011 than five years earlier, says it has boosted capital and liquidity while increasing to 29 months the amount of time the bank could operate without external funding.</div><div style="font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Today's 6,291 commercial banks are less than half the number that existed in 1984, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The trend intensified during the crisis as J.P. Morgan acquired Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual, Bank of America bought Merrill Lynch and Wells Fargo took over Wachovia in deals encouraged by the government.</div><div style="font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">"One of the bad outcomes, the adverse outcomes of the crisis, was the mergers that were of necessity undertaken when large banks were at risk," said Donald Kohn, vice chairman of the Federal Reserve from 2006 to 2010. "Some of the biggest banks got a lot bigger and the market got more concentrated."</div><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal;">In recent weeks, at least four current Fed presidents --Esther George of Kansas City, Charles Plosser of Philadelphia, Jeffrey Lacker of Richmond and Richard Fisher of Dallas -- have voiced similar worries about the risk of a renewed crisis.</span> Five" banks now hold assets equal to 56 percent of the U.S. economy.</div></div><div class="fullArticleStory" style="float: left; margin-bottom: 15px; width: 630px;"><div class="heroImageWraper" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #666666; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" height="417" src="http://stmedia.startribune.com/images/630*417/1payday0417.jpg" title="" width="630" /><br />
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Mounting troubles at Japan's hobbled Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant now pose a real threat to human survival. If the area in which Unit 4 is struck by another 7.0 magnitude earthquake, there's a 70 percent chance that "the entire fuel pool structure will collapse" and massive doses of lethal nuclear radiation will be released into the atmosphere. The disaster would release approximately "134 million curies is Cesium-137 -- roughly 85 times the amount of Cs-137 released at Chernobyl as estimated by the U.S. National Council on Radiation Protection (NCRP)." Experts believe that the amounts are sufficient to "destroy the world environment and our civilization," which makes containment "an issue of human survival." ("The Greatest Single Threat to Humanity: Fuel Pool Number 4," <a href="http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/04/the-largest-short-term-threat-to-humanity-the-fuel-pools-of-fukushima.html" rel="nofollow">Washington's blog</a>)<br />
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The structural integrity of Unit 4's cooling pool was greatly compromised by the earthquake and following tsunami which struck the facility over a year ago. At present, the pools are not adequately protected or reinforced, which means that a sizable tremor could "cause a disaster worse than the three reactor meltdowns." If such a disaster were to occur, "people should get out of Japan, and residents of the West Coast of America and Canada should shut all of their windows and stay inside," says nuclear expert Arnie Gundersen.<br />
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While the danger to life and the environment pose the greatest single national security threat the United States has faced since WW2, the Obama administration has provided little aid to the emergency effort. Japan is largely "going it alone" trying to cobble together a plan to safely store the spent fuel and minimize the risks to public safety.<br />
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On March 8, 2012, Dr. Hiroaki Koide, Research Associate at the Research Reactor Institute of Kyoto University, gave his bleak assessment of the situation on the Japanese a news program called, "Morning Bird." Koide explained how 1,500 rods are presently located in a "fuel pool" that has been severely damaged. The rods have to be cooled constantly or a "huge amount of radiation contained in the spent fuel will be released outside." If an earthquake hits and undermines the pool, the coolant will exit the pool, the rods will melt and radioactive plumes will rise into the atmosphere. Koide explained that the rods could not be safely removed from the existing pool because "if you hoist them up in the air, huge amounts of radiation will come out from the spent fuel and people nearby will die."<br />
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One of the journalists on "Morning Bird" asked Koide what would happen if the Unit was struck by another earthquake?<br />
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Koide answered, "That will be the end."<br />
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"The end?" the journalist asked, visibly shaken.<br />
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"The end," Koide repeated emphatically. ("Fukushima Dai-Ichi No. 4: An earthquake before spent fuel rods are moved to safe storage would be "the end," Lambert Strether, Naked Capitalism)<br />
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Now, check this out:<blockquote style="background-color: #f0efff; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 12px; margin-right: 12px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 4px;">"Japan's former Ambassador to Switzerland, Mr. Mitsuhei Murata... strongly stated that if the crippled building of reactor unit 4 -- with 1,535 fuel rods in the spent fuel pool 100 feet (30 meters) above the ground -- collapses, not only will it cause a shutdown of all six reactors but it will also affect the common spent fuel pool containing 6,375 fuel rods, located some 50 meters from reactor 4. In both cases the radioactive rods are not protected by a containment vessel; dangerously, they are open to the air. This would certainly cause a global catastrophe like we have never before experienced. ... Such a catastrophe would affect us all for centuries." ("Fukushima Daiichi Site: Cesium-137 is 85 times greater than at Chernobyl Accident," akiomatsumura.com)</blockquote>Murata's concerns have been brought to the attention of the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, to high-ranking officials in the Obama administration and EU, and to leaders around the world. The reaction has basically been the same everywhere, which is, "It's Japan's problem. Let them deal with it."<br />
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There is no way to overstate the media's complicity in concealing critical information about the tragedy that is presently unfolding at Fukushima. If there is another earthquake, the media will certainly be every bit as responsible as the government officials who saw the danger, but chose to do nothing.<br />
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<div class="relatedPhoto landscape" id="articleImage" style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; position: relative; width: 460px;"><img alt="A couple walks the grounds of the U.S. Capitol Building as snow falls in Washington, January 30, 2010. REUTERS/Jason Reed" border="0" src="http://www.reuters.com/resources/r/?m=02&d=20110405&t=2&i=379391585&w=460&fh=&fw=&ll=&pl=&r=2011-04-05T125030Z_01_BTRE734041O00_RTROPTP_0_WEATHER" style="display: block;" /><div class="rolloverCaption" id="captionContent" style="bottom: 0px; display: block; left: 0px; position: absolute; width: 460px; z-index: 2;"><div class="rolloverBg" style="background-color: transparent !important; background-image: url(http://www.reuters.com/resources_v2/images/bg_rollover_caption.png) !important; display: block; padding-bottom: 0px; width: 460px;"><div class="captionText" style="color: #dddddd; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px; position: relative;"><div style="font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">A couple walks the grounds of the U.S. Capitol Building as snow falls in Washington, January 30, 2010.</div><div class="credit" style="color: #a1a1a1; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Credit: Reuters/Jason Reed</div></div></div></div></div><div id="relatedInlineVideo"></div><span id="articleText"><span id="midArticle_start"></span><div id="articleInfo" style="margin-bottom: 10px;"><div style="color: #666666; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="location" style="font-weight: bold;">WASHINGTON</span> | <span class="timestamp" style="color: #666666; font-size: 11px; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Tue Apr 5, 2011 8:50am EDT</span></div></div><span class="focusParagraph"><div style="font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; line-height: normal;"></span></div><div id="articleInfo" style="margin-bottom: 10px;"><div style="color: #666666; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="location" style="font-weight: bold;">WASHINGTON</span> | <span class="timestamp" style="color: #666666; font-size: 11px; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Tue Apr 5, 2011 8:50am EDT</span></div></div><span class="focusParagraph"><div style="font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify;">(Reuters) - Government spending would plummet by nearly $6 trillion over the coming decade under a Republican plan due to be unveiled on Tuesday, in a sharp contrast to President Barack Obama's fiscal plan.</div></span><span id="midArticle_0"></span><div style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify;">The plan, crafted by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, envisions a total spending cut of $5.8 trillion over the coming decade, according to an aide.</div><span id="midArticle_1"></span><div style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify;">That's well beyond the $4 trillion in savings envisioned by an Obama task force last year, and roughly six times the savings that Obama's own budget plan would generate.</div><span id="midArticle_2"></span><div style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify;">Ryan's plan, which would take effect when the next fiscal year starts on October 1, is expected to propose sweeping changes to the Medicare and Medicaid health programs, as well as hard caps on government spending and tax cuts.</div><span id="midArticle_3"></span><div style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify;">Though it is likely to win the support of the Republican-controlled House, it is not expected to get much support in the Democratic-controlled Senate.</div><span id="midArticle_4"></span><div style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify;">Still, it will probably push a debate over government spending that has dominated Washington this year well into the 2012 election season, when both Obama and many of his Republican adversaries will face voters.</div><span id="midArticle_5"></span><div style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify;">(Reporting by <a href="http://blogs.reuters.com/search/journalist.php?edition=us&n=andy.sullivan&" style="color: #006e97; cursor: pointer; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: none;">Andy Sullivan</a>; editing by <a href="http://blogs.reuters.com/search/journalist.php?edition=us&n=eric.beech&" style="color: #006e97; cursor: pointer; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: none;">Eric Beech</a>)</div><div style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><br />
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<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 23px;"><span style="color: #ff6600;">Please forward as far as possible</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #6600cc;">Please copy and spread this.</span></span></div><br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 23px;"><b>Straight truth on nuclear fallout</b><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-size: 13px;">Long, unwieldy and not to be missed!!</span><br />
<br />
<div style="color: #333333; font-size: 13px; text-align: left;">Yes, this means YOU. </div><div style="color: #333333; font-size: 13px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-size: 13px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-size: 13px; text-align: left;">Have a read for a bit. It's time for you to see the raw, bold truth - nuclear fallout is hell. It is war against all the people's of the world.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-size: 13px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-size: 13px; text-align: left;">So I've posted the unvarnished TRUTH. Hard to take if you are only interested in pleasure or getting relief from an "unkind" world as your points for living. </div><div style="color: #333333; font-size: 13px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">But FACTS must be faced. So here's some information you need to advance the cause of a sane planet to live on.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">For a 'scientific' paper, what is below is not hard to follow.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Are you in a comfortable chair, playing at activism? Or just not concerned? </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Or can we persuade you to take this as a call to arms</div><div style="text-align: center;">to end a conspiracy of silence</div><div style="text-align: center;">a web of deceit, lies and misdirections</div><div style="text-align: center;">to keep a system alive that is killing millions.</div><div style="text-align: center;">As I type, 30 million people in Tokyo are facing possible extinction</div><div style="text-align: center;">years of genetic mutation</div><div style="text-align: center;">following illness and suffering for vast numbers of people.</div></div><div style="color: #333333; font-size: 13px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-size: 13px; text-align: left;">As the planet prepares for nuclear war against Iran, Syria, North Korea sits "on the table" can you show your concern? </div><div style="color: #333333; font-size: 13px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-size: 13px; text-align: left;">As increasing numbers of people are exposed to depleted uranium and the contaminants spread ever wider onto the planet are you willing to speak up long and HARD?</div><div style="color: #333333; font-size: 13px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-size: 13px; text-align: left;">As the risk of a nuclear "accident" just gains momentum as earth changes are upon us can you see the need to be wary, but VOCAL?<br />
<br />
Thinking about the effects this might have on YOU?<br />
<br />
Just what effects might this have on offspring born into your families?<br />
<br />
You cannot CONTAIN Nuclear fallout.<br />
There is no such thing as a "tiny nuke"!!<br />
Depleted uranium's use is JUST as bad, maybe far far worse.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-size: 13px; text-align: left;">Hydrofracking the search for methane hydrates releases nuclear fallout.<br />
There are children dieing of uranium poisoning in America, being badly deformed at birth.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-size: 13px;">And we must all fight together. For much is at stake. Silence is complicity when it comes to facing insane threats to our health, happiness and well-being, so let's get this straight - WHO NEEDS TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-size: x-large;"><b>Who's TELLING YOU??</b></span></div><br />
<div style="color: #333333; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">Surely not YOUR government!!!</div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-size: 13px;">Ever REALLY wondered what happened to the Chernobyl victims and to other radiation victims as well??</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-size: 13px;">Ever wonder how you would REALLY find out about it??</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-size: 13px;">Did the information mysteriously go missing "under the radar?"</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-size: 13px;">Did they fund any studies?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-size: 13px;">If so, who did them, and DID THEY AGREE?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-size: 13px;">Were findings and results published?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-size: 13px;">Are we going to be TOLD what nuclear fallout did to us ALL, seeing as how it cannot be contained?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-size: 13px;">Why are Russians, Ukrainians and other groups still pouring into Canada and other places at ever faster rates?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-size: 13px;">Just how are those Chernobyl children and others like them now? - we were warned it wouldn't be "pretty".</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-size: 13px;">Were things in place to help out and how?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-size: 17px;"><b>and maybe most important of all questions:</b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: 23px;"><br />
</span><br />
<div style="color: #333333; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: 23px;"><b>Can the planet learn from this lesson??</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: 23px;"><b>and stop making horrible bombs<br />
<br />
and having horrible "accidents"</b></span><br />
<b>Can we put a 'face' on it?</b><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">Pretty obvious, if you don't really follow scientific principles, then the lessons are going to come at you incomplete.<br />
<br />
And then there is that gnawing, never before possible to answer question:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #6600cc;">HOW AM I GOING TO<span style="color: #ff6600; font-size: 23px;"> FEEL</span> WHEN I FIND OUT </span><span style="color: #6600cc;">WHA</span>T <span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: 23px;">REALLY</span> <span style="color: #3333ff;">HAPPENS </span><span style="color: #3333ff;">to </span><span style="color: #3333ff;">the survivors and to their children??</span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><br />
Finally, some answers to assist you as you get to feel your feelings. The events were gut wrenching for the entire world and each time we grew more traumized. Please go to<a href="http://www.shockdoctrine.com/" id="j5b:" style="color: #336688; text-decoration: none;" title="www.shockdoctrine.com">www.shockdoctrine.com</a> and watch the video. We are being victimized by a conspiracy of SILENCE.<br />
<br />
The effects of the radiation that has been covered up, but are made available to you from the Low Level Radiation Campaign.</div></div></div></div></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-size: 13px;">When you are through digesting this may WE,</span></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><br />
fellow earthlings</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><br />
suggest<br />
you pass this on, that maybe<br />
you begin discussing this and<br />
Maybe have a very good cry about it all<br />
<br />
But don't fail to get angry at the coverup<br />
<br />
Begin to write, email, fax, call<br />
the media and <span style="color: #cc9933;">ask them</span> and the politicians<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: 17px;">Why is no one telling me this?</span><br />
<br />
When you are through, you may email Richard at his email below<br />
Tell him you are now INVOLVED<br />
in saving this precious, precious planet<br />
<br />
Don't fall for the snow job!!<br />
<br />
Demand an end to uranium mininng,<br />
To nuclear power plants,<br />
to the proliferation of nuclear weapons<br />
the use of depleted uranium<br />
hydrofracking and the search for methane hydrate</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><br />
DO NOT BE CONNED BY THE DEAFENING SILENCE<br />
taking place on this issue.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">The children of earthlings are counting on you to speak out.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"><b>Fukushima explosion</b><br />
Detailed advice will be issued as more information about possible releases becomes available. Meantime we warn that reassurances from all agencies including IAEA and national offices of nuclear safety are based on the invalid and discredited radiation risk model of the International Commission or Radiological Protection (ICRP), according to which the Chernobyl disaster can not have caused any observable health effects in the general population.<br />
Immediate precautions for populations downwind of Fukushima are to stay indoors. Do not eat local produce; drink bottled water.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">And with that note, We ask you to think about the consequences</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">of the fact that the government of JAPAN</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">did not listen to warnings or pleas.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">They ignored this report.</span><br />
<span style="color: #993399; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17px;">So here it is is</span></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #993399; font-size: 17px;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">And please stick with this</span><br />
</span></div><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: larger;"><b>International campaign "low-level" radiation<br />
</b></span><br />
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"></div><div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">It can be difficult to grasp the sheer scale of the deception that the Commission continues to practise upon the public through its failure to apply scientific method. It amounts to nothing less than a Nelsonian</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> blindness</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> to the health impacts of contaminating the environment with low concentrations of radioactivity, and the theft of mankind's collective opportunity to learn from the post-war nuclear arms race and the Chernobyl disaster.</span></div><br />
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><b>Here we are not embarking on a rehearsal of all the arguments and all the evidence. It is clear that the Commission is impervious to such submissions. At the same time silence must not give consent. For economy we concentrate on the overarching matter of scientific method.</b></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><b>Scientific method requires countervailing evidence to be addressed. In this respect the Commission fails. Studies of the effects of weapons test fallout and Chernobyl are not cited. In fact the word "Chernobyl" is notably absent from the consultation draft and its key supporting documents, Annexes A and B. The single exception (a study highlighting the diffic</b><b>ulty of reconstructing thyroid doses) is cited because of the Commission's obsessive concern with dose. </b><b>ICRP clings to the outworn dogma that the assessment of radiation dos</b><b>es is fundamental to radiological protection despite robust criticism even from within its own ranks which, characteristically, it ignores. Thus the </b><b>CERRIE Majority Report is </b><b>cited in various contexts but not in the context of its attack on the concept of absorbed dose):- </b></div><br />
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><blockquote>..... There are important concerns with respect to the<br />
heterogeneity of dose delivery within tissues and cells from<br />
short-range charged particle emissions, the extent to which<br />
current models adequately represent such interactions with<br />
biological targets, and the specification of target cells at risk.<br />
Indeed, the actual concepts of absorbed dose become<br />
questionable, and sometimes meaningless, when considering<br />
interactions at the cellular and molecular levels.<br />
(CERRIE Majority Report Chapter 2.1 paragraph 11).</blockquote></div><br />
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><b>The work of the European Committee on Radiation Risk (ECRR 2003 [1)) is not cited. Neither is IRSN's recent report on the ECRR (IRSN 2005 [2]) although ICRP shares staff with IRSN and although IRSN states: </b></div><br />
<blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;">Various questions raised by the ECRR are quite pertinent and<br />
led IRSN to analyze this document with a pluralistic approach.<br />
a. Besides natural and medical exposures, populations are<br />
basically undergoing low dose and low dose rate prolonged<br />
internal exposures. But the possible health consequences under<br />
such exposure conditions are ill-known. Failing statistically<br />
significant observations, the health consequences of low dose<br />
exposures are extrapolated from data concerning exposures<br />
that involve higher dose rates and doses. Also, few<br />
epidemiologic data could be analyzed for assessing inner<br />
exposure effects. The risks were thus assessed from health<br />
consequences observed after external exposure, considering<br />
that effects were identical, whether the exposure source is<br />
located outside or inside the human body. However, the<br />
intensity, or even the type of effects might be different.<br />
b. The pertinence of dosimetric values used for quantifying<br />
doses may be questioned. Indeed, the factors applied for risk<br />
management values are basically relying on the results from<br />
the Hiroshima and Nagasaki survivors' monitoring. It is thus<br />
not ensured that the numerical values of these factors translate<br />
the actual risk, regardless of exposure conditions, and<br />
especially after low dose internal exposure.<br />
c. Furthermore, since the preparation of the ICRP 60<br />
publication, improvements in radiobiology and<br />
radiopathology, or even in general biology, might finally<br />
impair the radiation cell and tissue response model applied to<br />
justify radioprotection recommendations. It was thus justified<br />
to contemplate the impact of such recent observations on the<br />
assessment of risk induced by an exposure to ionizing<br />
radiation.</blockquote><br />
<br />
<b style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;">and </b><br />
<blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
The phenomena concerning internal contamination by<br />
radionuclides are complex because they involve numerous<br />
physico-chemical, biochemical and physiological mechanisms,<br />
still ill-known and thus difficult to model. Due to this complexity,<br />
the behaviour of radionuclides in the organism is often ill<br />
described and it is difficult to accurately define a relationship<br />
between the dose delivered by radionuclides and the observed<br />
consequences on health. This led the radioprotection specialists<br />
to mostly use the dose/risk relationships derived from the study<br />
of the Hiroshima/Nagasaki survivors, exposed in conditions very<br />
different from those met in the cases of internal contaminations.<br />
This fact raises numerous questions, which should be considered<br />
with caution because a wide part of the public exposure in some<br />
areas of the world is due to chronic internal contaminations and<br />
very few data concern these situations.<br />
[…] the questions raised by the ECRR are fully acceptable, … "</blockquote><br />
<br />
<b style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;">and </b><br />
<br />
<blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;">… we do not possess, in the current state of knowledge, the<br />
elements required to improve the existing radioprotection<br />
system.</blockquote><br />
<br />
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><b>In the draft Recommendations [3] preceding the present one paragraphs 37, 41, 42, 44, 46, 47, 48 , 49 and 50 gave </b><b>detailed discussion of the circumstances where heterogeneity of energy distribution compromises absorbed dose. P</b><b>aragraph 51, immediately following, presented a bizarre and risible contradiction in asserting (or re-asserting) that </b></div><br />
<blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;">The definition of the protection quantities is based on the mean absorbed dose …</blockquote><br />
<br />
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><b>The present consultation draft has reorganised or vanished the material from the paragraphs listed. It does not seem worth making a detailed analysis of the fate of this material since the Commission clings to its original conclusion about the assessment of radiation doses. However, we note one example (selected at random, not according to any ranking). </b></div><b style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;">Paragraph (44) of the 2004 draft read: </b><br />
<br />
<blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;">Absorbed dose is defined based on the expectation value of the<br />
stochastic quantity e, energy imparted, and therefore does not<br />
consider the random fluctuation of the interaction events. It is defined<br />
at any point in matter and, in principle, is a measurable quantity, i.e. it<br />
can be determined experimentally and by computation. The definition<br />
of absorbed dose has the scientific rigour required for a fundamental<br />
quantity. It takes implicitly account of the radiation field as well as of<br />
all of its interactions inside and outside the specified volume. It does<br />
not, however, consider the atomic structure of matter and the<br />
stochastic nature of the interactions.</blockquote><br />
<br />
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><b>The final sente</b><b>nce with its inherent caveat about heterogeneity of energy deposition has va</b><b>nished from the analogous paragraph of the present draft. </b></div><br />
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">S<b>ection </b><a href="http://4.4.5.1/" style="color: #336688; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><b>4.4.5.1</b></a><b> of Annex A, Supralinear low dose responses, discusses a number of disputed areas of radiation risk, citing the CERRIE Minority Report but not the Minority Report [4]. This cannot be dismissed as an oversight, in view of the overlapping membership of CERRIE and the ICRP Task Group which wrote the Annex. We see it as an exercise in misrepresenting the status of a scientific dialogue. </b></div><br />
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><b>A feature of the technique is that it attacks the work of individuals in a manner that allows them to be identified by the cognoscenti but does not cite them overtly — a propaganda technique rather than science. </b></div><b style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;">The topics so treated in Section </b><a href="http://4.4.5.1/" style="color: #336688; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><b>4.4.5.1</b></a><b style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;"> are dismissed in terms of </b><br />
<blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
The Task Group agree[ing] with the general view expressed by the majority of CERRIE members that none of the proposals on the gross underestimation of risk that were considered have a sound scientific basis and that some are demonstrably flawed. The following points illustrate the views of the Task Group:<br />
<br />
a) the interpretation of selected epidemiological datasets.</blockquote><br />
<br />
<b style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;">The Annex glosses this as </b><br />
<br />
<blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;">The epidemiological evidence cited did not provide consistent evidence that risk of childhood leukaemia from nuclear test fallout was seriously underestimated by established radiation risk models.</blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><b>XXXX points should be noted. 1) The principle of Popperian falsification holds that a single genuine counterexam</b><b>ple is enough to </b><b>require a hypothesis to be modified. It is not a question of having to provide consistent evidence of a serious underestimate. 2) Rather than accepting the unsupported statements of the Task Group, readers should refer to detailed discussion of the childhood leukaemia in the CERRIE Minority Report pp.30-2. 3) In fact just as much attention was given to INFANT leukaemia post-Chernobyl. The CERRIE Majority Report handled this in a farcical manner which has been analysed in a number of submissions (e.g LLRC to CoRWM) and published in Radioactive Times Vol 6 no 1 without being rebutted. A version is </b><b>appen</b><b>ded as Appendix 1. 4) CERRIE cannot be represented as a thorough examination of even a substantial proportion of the epidemiological datasets available. It is particularly noteworthy that two Russian Academicians attended the 3-day international workshop convened by CERRIE in 2003. They recomm</b><b>ended that there were tens of thousands of papers in Russian which were relevant to the Committee's remit and they asked that the Committee should recommend translation of at least the abstracts to make them more widely accessible. The Majority Report ignored this entire topic, but the Minority Report included translations of about 100 summaries showing supralinear effects, both experimental and epidemiological, tending to falsify ICRP's risk estimates. This work has now been augmented in publication of a far larger volume of work from Russia, Belaru</b><b>s and the Ukraine [5]. A summary is appended as Appendix 2. </b><b>b) biophysical proposals on the mode of a</b><b>ction of certain internal radiations.</b></div><b style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;">The Annex glosses this as </b><br />
<br />
<blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;">The so called Second Event Theory cited in support of higher than expected cancer risk from 90Sr and particulate forms of alpha-emitters [which the majority felt] was inadequately formulated and inconsistent with a wellestablished body of biological data.</blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><b>The manner in which this was treated by CERRIE was highly unsatisfactory. An external reviewer was appointed without reference to the Committee; the criteria he applied were not satisfactory and omitted some key issues. As the Minority Report reveals [6], Committee members failed to understand key aspects of the debate. Crucially, it was never contende</b><b>d that the Second Event Theory has to be valid in order to demonstrate that there is something bad</b><b>ly wrong with the ICRP's modelling. The epidemiological data, allied to the caveats uttered by the ICRP itself, take precedence; the Theory stands as a possible explanation of why the epidemiological data fail to conform to simplistic assumptions based on external irradiation and average dose. This it shares with the next cate</b><b>gory: </b></div><br />
<blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;">c) the role of induced genomic instability/bystander signalling in cancer development;</blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><b>Jury out. It is said that if these mechanisms play a role in radiation induced disease they are already subsumed within existing radiation risk factors. This is hard to sustain since they have potential to cause a far larger range</b><b> of disease than are currently assumed to be radiogenic — cf ECRR 200</b><b>6.</b></div><br />
<blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;">d) the fitting of bimodal or polymodal dose-responses to epidemiological and experimental data.</blockquote><br />
<br />
<b style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;">The Annex glosses this as </b><br />
<br />
<blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;">The data relating to bimodal/polymodal dose responses were generally weak, statistical analyses were inadequate and the phenomena, if real, had no obvious mechanistic basis.</blockquote><br />
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><b>Many of the post-Chernobyl reports in ECRR 2006 and the CERRIE Minority Report show bimodal/polymodal dose responses. The Commission fa</b><b>ils to examine these data, just as CERRIE did; CERRIE did not undertake enough analysis to allow the conclusion that statistical analyses </b><b>were inadequate. One does not know how much analysis ICRP has carried out since it cites no post-Chernobyl evidence. It has been pointed out that some of the data sets cited by ICRP and other conventional agencies (e.g. of nuclear industry workers) show anomalously high effects at low dose, though these points are usually dismissed as outliers. Mechanistic bases for bimodal responses have been proposed, including during CERRIE. An example is to be found on page 58 of the CERRIE Minority Report. We kn</b><b>ow of no logical rebuttal, as contrasted with the Annex's unscientific opinion mongering.</b></div><br />
<b style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;">This sec</b><b style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;">tion of the ICRP's Annex A concludes: </b><br />
<br />
<blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;">Epidemiology takes precedence over theory, and the post-Chernobyl epidemiology falsifies this statement.</blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><b>The Commission assumes on the basis of the LSS external irradiation studies that effects are limited to a small range of disorders. Post-Chernobyl studies showing a wide range of non-cancer diseases falsify this assumption, as does Whyte's metaanalysis of infant mortality at the time of the weapons test fallout (not cited by ICRP). ICRP itself admits that no specific judgement on low dose risk of non-cancer diseases is possible. [7]</b></div><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 23px;"><b>Conclusion<br />
</b></span><br />
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 17px;"><span style="color: #ff6600;">The Commission's approach is fundamentally unscientific. </span></span><b>The Commission's obsession with absorbed dose as an average and its refusal to consider any studies where dose cannot at least be inferred conflict with opinio</b><b>ns about the limitations of absorbed dose from a range of authorities including the </b><b>Commission itself.</b></div><br />
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><b>On the basis of copious epidemiological evidence radioactive contaminants appear to be acting as toxins irrespective of dose considerations, irrespective of whether biological mechanisms are known, and irrespective of assumptions based on the LSS </b><b>studies about which ty</b><a href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_eJ5l4VAZnNw/Rv7qaf8tOmI/AAAAAAAAAcs/nPmgb9nTdQ0/s1600-h/79.jpg" style="color: #336688; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5115783967713081954" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_eJ5l4VAZnNw/Rv7qaf8tOmI/AAAAAAAAAcs/nPmgb9nTdQ0/s200/79.jpg" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 221, 238); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(204, 221, 238); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(204, 221, 238); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(204, 221, 238); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; cursor: move; float: left; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0pt; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0pt; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 4px;" /></a><b>pes of disorder are inducible by radiation. </b></div><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 23px;"><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><br />
Appendix 1 </b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17px;"><b>INFANT LEUKAEMIA: AN ACID TEST </b></span><br />
<br />
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><b>A sharp increase in infant leukaemia was observed in several countries after the </b><b>Chernobyl accident in 1986. It was extensively discussed by CERRIE. </b></div><br />
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><b>Leukaemia is recognised as an early indicator of radiation damage; more specifically, infant leukaemia (i.e. diagnosed before a baby’s first birthday) signals damage acquired in the womb. Scientific journals have published papers by different </b><b>research teams showing post-Chernobyl increases of between 20% and 330% in </b><b>various countries as far apart as Belarus and the USA (Busby 2000; Gibson 1988; Ivanov 1998; Mangano 1997; Michaelis 1997; Petridou 1996 [8]).</b></div><br />
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><b>This is a crucial challenge to conventional radiation risk estimates because only the Chernobyl fallout can have caused the disease in this very precisely defined subset of the population. The number of sick babies was small but they are in effect miner</b><b>s’ </b><b>canaries, suggesting that radioactive discharges are contributing to the global epidemic of cancer. </b></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><b>All the</b><b> post-Chernobyl studies show between 150 and 800 times more leukaemia than expected. We argued in CERRIE that this was prima facie evidence against the external risk model. Our opponents set out to show it could be ignored. </b></div><br />
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><b>They argued that the statistical power of the individual studies was so low that no reliance could be placed on the overall observation. One strand of this argument depends on ignoring studies of Scotland and Wales where excess risks were high and </b><b>statistically significant. </b></div><br />
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><b>The second strand began with using wrong data and ended in nonsense. The first draft of the CERRIE Majority Report said radiation doses in Germany were the same as in Greece. This had the effect of reducing the apparent significance of the German </b><b>study and CERRIE concluded that </b></div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
… the only study to show a large discrepancy with the predictions of<br />
external radiation risk estimates is the Greek … study.</blockquote><br />
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><b>However, we knew from UN monitoring that fallout in Greece was roughly four times higher than in Germany (Savchenko 1995). We told CERRIE’s Chairman that the stated doses were obviously wrong and the Majority Report was changed. As published, it contains the correct doses but, untenably, still concludes that only the Greek study is out of line with expectation. </b></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><b>The third strand of the CERRIE case is an unsubstantiated slur on the quality of data collection in Greece. This was never discussed in Committee, but the Report’s implication is that the Greek study can therefore b</b><b>e ignored. </b></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><b>The fourth concerns the study from Belarus, where fallout levels from Chernobyl were more than seven times hi</b><b>gher than in Greece ‘though the increase in infant leukaemia was smaller than anywhere else in mainland Europe. The Majority Report </b><b>says the Greek study (the only one supposed to be an anomaly) is </b></div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
... statistically inconsistent with … the study in Belarus where the highest<br />
doses from Chernobyl contamination were received.</blockquote><br />
<br />
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><b>Statistically inconsistent with … is code, meaning that the observations challenge the dogma that dose and effect are always linear. We had consistent</b><b>ly argued in CERRIE that there are good reasons why disease may not always show linear relationships with dose. Infant leukaemia is just one example. It starts in the womb, so babies carried by pregnant women in high fallout areas will suffer more damage than in low fallout areas. As a result more babies will be misc</b><b>arried or stillborn or will die </b><b>before leukaemia is diagnosed. A high fallout area will therefore inevitably have a lower incidence of leukaemia per unit dose than a low dose area and possibly an absolutely lower incidence as well, as in the case of Belarus. Thus we have further evidence of the invalidity of the ICRP linear risk model.<br />
</b></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><b>The Majority Report thus used a combination of wrong and selective data, innuendo and dependence on assumptions which CERRIE itself had been set up to test, to find that the increase in each country could have happened by chance, so the </b><b>overall increase could have happened by chance. This ignores the classic scientific dictum of “instance confirma</b><b>tion”; that is, studies which consistently show a trend increase our confidence that the trend is real. The Chernobyl infants’ studies satisfy </b><b>Professor Sir Austin Bradford Hill’s famous features of reliable epidemiological studies (Bradford Hill 1965: extracts in italics. This discussion of Bradford Hill was part of the CERRIE process — it was as near as CERRIE would get to discussing the philosophy of science, or How do you know what you know?):-</b></div><br />
<blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;">• “strength” (Is the observed increase in risk large enough, relative to unexposed people, to draw a firm inference about causation?</blockquote><br />
<b style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;">On this Bradford Hill cautions </b><br />
<br />
<blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;">We must not be too ready to dismiss a cause-and-effect hypothesis merely on the grounds that the observed association appears to be slight.)</blockquote><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;">• “consistency” (Has it been repeatedly observed by different persons, in different places, circumstances and times?)</blockquote><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
• “specificity” (Is there a specific association between the disease and the type of exposure?),<br />
<br />
• “temporality” (Does the disease follow the exposure?)<br />
<br />
• “plausibility” (Is the causation we suspect biologically plausible, bearing in mind that the association we observe may be one new to science or medicine and we must not dismiss it too light-heartedly as just too odd.)<br />
<br />
• and “coherence” (Does the cause-and-effect interpretation of our data …. seriously conflict with the generally known facts of the natural history and biology of the disease?)</blockquote><br />
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><b>The Biological gradient criterion is not satisfied, but Bradford Hill envisages circumstances in which a linear dose response would not be seen, and I have already given good reason why infant leukaemia would not display one. As the CERRIE Minority Report’s appendix of studies from the Chernobyl affected territories of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine shows, many disease phenomena show non-linear relationships with dose.</b></div><br />
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><b>Statistical sig</b><b>nificance, so crucial to CERRIE’s dismissal of the infant leukaemia, is of minor importance according to Bradford Hill. Nonetheless, we can amalgamate the statistical tests contained in the various studies. The Scottish, Greek and German </b><b>studies combined, for example, have a p value of 0.00065, meaning that an event on this scale occupying a two year period would not happen by chance in more than two thousand lifetimes. Common sense says that if the events were truly random, at least some of the data points would have been below the dotted line. </b></div><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 23px;"><b>FOUR-</b></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 23px;"><b>WAY SPLIT NOT EXPLAINED </b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17px;"><b>On this key issue the Majority Report shows a bizarre four-way split: </b></span><br />
<br />
<blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;">In the judgement of a large majority of Committee members, it is<br />
likely that radioactive fallout from the Chernobyl accident resulted<br />
in an increased risk of infant leukaemia in the exposed populations.<br />
A substantial fraction of members thinks that this increase is at the<br />
level anticipated from current risk models. However, another<br />
substantial fraction feels that these models may have underestimated<br />
the level of this increased risk. Of this latter group, two members<br />
further believe that the evidence for infant leukaemia suggests that<br />
the current risk estimates are appreciably in error. The remainder of<br />
the Committee believes that there exists relatively little evidence that<br />
lends support to this view. There is a consensus within the<br />
Committee that leukaemia incidence in infants post-Chernobyl<br />
merits further study. [CERRIE Majority Report Chapter 4 para. 26]</blockquote><br />
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">T<b>he reasoning behind some of the views remains a mystery even to CERRIE members, since the Committee never went through an open process of identifying members’ opinions. One faction - its size is not stated - seems to think Chernobyl had </b><b>no effect on how many babies got leukaemia. Most members thought it did have an effect, but were split three ways on how big it was; some thought all the data points could be interpreted as being in line with ICRP expectations, others thought the risks </b><b>might have been higher, but the report doesn’t say how much higher, nor who thought so, nor why. Two members insisted that the various scientific papers unequivocally show radiation is at least 100 times and maybe up to 1000 times more dangerous than</b> <b>conventional estimates. The majority felt</b><b> there was relatively little evidence of this.</b></div><br />
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><b>The Committee’s remit required differences of opinion to be explained, but the Majority Report leaves the reader only to guess whether there were any scientific grounds for this wide divergence (as opposed to the obvious political motivations). The implications are huge, for if the risk factors are so grossly in error we have an explanation not only for the Seascale leukaemia cluster but for the global epidemic of cancer which started when the nuclear industry began to spread radioactive pollution </b><b>around the planet. On this key issue, as on many others, the Majority Report completely fails to produce any reliable advice for policy makers. </b></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><b><br />
</b></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><b>The Committee on Me</b><b>dical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment colluded with the cover-up. Professor Bryn Bridges, Chairman of COMARE, attended every meeting of CERRIE as an observer. Professor Eric Wright was a member of both </b><b>CERRIE and COMARE and also sat on the COMARE sub-Committee shadowing </b><b>CERRIE, so despite the opacity of CERRIE’s treatment of the infant leukaemia, COMARE was fully aware of its importance. However, its 9th Report, which advises ministers on CERRIE’s findings, contains not a word about it. Professor Bridges retired as C</b><b>hair of COMARE at the end of 2004 but he defends his report against this criticism. In an email to LLRC he cites a paragraph which refers to the forthcoming European Childhood Leukaemia/ Lymphoma Incidence Study (ECLIS). This he says</b></div><br />
<blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;">will investigate trends in incidence rates of childhood leukaemia and<br />
lymphoma in 20 European countries, in relation to [...] Chernobyl [...]<br />
Such large studies are much more likely to produce firm results than<br />
those proposed in the CERRIE report.</blockquote><br />
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><b>As ECLIS is unpublished it does not falsify studies published up to 18 years ago. CERRIE’s own study is part of the body of evidence which the Majority Report misrepresents.</b></div><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 23px;"><b>Appendix 2</b></span><br />
<br />
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><b>ECRR 2006 contains a vast amount of information on conditions that could be described as generalised ill-health. We summarise some of them here. The discussion commences: </b></div><br />
<blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;">Since 1986, in the USSR, life expectancy has noticeably decreased.<br />
On average, infant mortality has noticeably increased, as well as<br />
death rates for those of advanced ages. There is no proof of a<br />
direct connection between these parameters and the Chernobyl<br />
catastrophe, but THERE IS PROOF OF SUCH CONNECTIONS FOR<br />
PARTICULAR POLLUTED TERRITORIES.</blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><b>AFTER 1986, I</b><b>N THE RADIOACTIVELY POLLUTED AREAS OF UKRAINE,</b><b>BELARUS AND RUSSIA, </b><span style="color: #ff6600;"><b>THERE IS AN INCREASE IN GENERAL MORTALITY BY</b></span><span style="color: #ff6600;"><b>COMPARISON WITH NEIGHBORING AREAS.</b></span><b> (EMPHASIS added.) </b></div><br />
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><b>The following list of conditions has been taken from Chapter 1 of ECRR 2006. The presence of a condition here indicates that the parameter has worsened since the accident and many of the studies report a dose dependent relationship [9]. </b></div><br />
<ul style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;"><li>Stillbirths, miscarriages, infant mortality, general mortality, cancer mortality, sudden deaths.</li>
<li>Thyroid cancer.</li>
<li>The 40 % increase in all malignancies between 1990 and 2000 correlates with radioactive fallout levels. The list of cancer sites includes retinoblastoma, lung, intestines, colon, kidneys, female breast, bladder, respiratory organs, nervous system, pancreas, all cancers in children.</li>
<li>Psychological diseases correlate with levels of radioactive pollution. There is a steep and continuing increase in diseases of the nervous system, e.g. congenital convulsive syndrome, brain circulation pathology, general neurological diseases, short-term memory loss, deterioration of attention function in school-children.</li>
<li>In adults there is growing evidence of a syndrome marked by deteriorating memory and motor skills, occurrence of convulsions, and pulsing headaches. This is caused by the destruction of brain cells and in the region has been dubbed Chernobyl</li>
<li>dementia.</li>
<li>In the Chernobyl territories cataracts have become a common disease.</li>
<li>Urogenital illnesses correlate with levels of radioactive pollution, and include interruption of pregnancy, gestosis, premature birth, inflammation of female genitals, ovarian cysts, uterine fibroma, menstrual irregularities, kidney infections, kidney stones, stones in urinary passages, infringements of sexual development, complications of pregnancy and births, failures of pregnancy, medical abortions, infertility, pathology of sperm, sclerocystosis, early impotence in men aged 25 - 30, structural changes of testiculus, spermatogenesis disturbances, lactation in 70- year old women, and delayed puberty as well as accelerated sexual development.</li>
<li>Diseases of the cardio-vascular system and blood are one of the most common consequences of the Chernobyl radioactive pollution:- anaemia, illnesses of the blood circulation system, arterial hypertensia or hypotensia, disturbances of heart rhythm and digestive systems, macrocitosis of lymphocytes, diseases of the blood and circulatory organs in adults, early atherosclerosis and ischemic heart disease, leucopenia, infringement of the blood supply in legs, changes in abundance and activity of leukocytes.</li>
<li>There is much evidence correlating fallout levels with endocrine/hormone diseases, e.g. incidence rate for Type 1 diabetes mellitus in Belarus. Similarly thyroid gland diseases (autoimmune thyroiditis, thyrotoxicosis, diabetes etc.). In 1993 more</li>
<li>than 40 % of the surveyed children in the Gomel area of Belarus had an enlarged thyroid gland. Experts think up to 1.5 million people in Belarus are at risk of pathology of the thyroid gland.</li>
<li>In some of the Chernobyl-polluted territories immune systems are compromised, with changes to cellular and humoral immunity, decreased maintenance Т- and В- lymphocytes, reduced resistance to infections and other diseases, raised frequency and expressiveness of tonsillitis, lymphadenopathies and lowered resistance to cancer.</li>
<li>In the radioactively polluted territories the typical consequence of infringement of the immune system appears as an immuno-deficiency. An increase in frequency and intensity of both acute and chronic diseases is observed everywhere in the Chernobyl polluted territories. Sometimes the weakening of the immune system in these radioactively polluted territories is referred to as Chernobyl AIDS.</li>
<li>There is accelerated ageing among the people in radioactively polluted territories in the Ukraine: their biological age exceeds their actual age by 7 - 9 years. In highly polluted territories in Belarus the mean age of men and women who died from heart attacks was 8 years younger than the average across Belarus.</li>
<li>The array of diseases commonly considered exclusive to the elderly is now typical for children in all of the heavily polluted territories. The immune system activity of these children is similar to the type of immune system activity experienced in old age. The pathology of the digestive system epithelium in children from the polluted areas of Belarus also shows similarities with elderly people.</li>
<li>There are many studies showing a wide range of chromosomal aberrations in the Chernobyl radioactively polluted areas. Examples:- higher frequency of chromosomal aberrations in somatic cells, lowered mitotic index in polluted districts, increased mutation rates in satellite DNA, chromosomal aberrations and satellite DNA mutations increased in children with thyroid cancer, chromosomal mutations de novo higher in polluted territories.</li>
<li>In the polluted territories, compared with clean ones, there is increasing morbidity by intestinal toxicosis, gastro-enteritis, dysbacteriosis, sepses, respiratory viruses, herpes infections, trichocephalisis, pneumocistis, cryptosporidosis, tuberculosis, viral hepatitis, cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection. Microsporia occur in the radioactively polluted territories of the Bryansk areas (Russia) more frequently and in a more virulent form.</li>
<li>There are increases in children’s general morbidity, and increases in rare illnesses in the Chernobyl polluted territories of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia;</li>
<li>It is clear that children in heavily radio-polluted territories really do suffer,</li>
<li>to a much greater degree, from a variety of diseases.</li>
<li>Practically all forms of studied nosology are more prevalent […] [there is] a</li>
<li>convincing picture of sharply worsening health in children from the polluted</li>
<li>territories.</li>
<li>Conditions listed under this heading are:- chronic gastritis, chronic duodenitis, chronic gastro-duodenitis, bilious dyskinesia, vegeto-vascular and cardiac syndrome, astheno-neurotic syndrome, chronic tonsillitis, caries, chronic periodontitis.</li>
<li>Total child morbidity in Ukraine increased by 2.9 times between 1986 and 2001, newborn morbidity in Belarus increases year-on-year at a rate of 9.5% with greatest increases in the most polluted Gomel area. The spectrum of children’s noncancer</li>
<li>illnesses in the polluted territories includes lowered birthweight in those irradiated in utero in Ukraine, reduced head circumference in newborns in the polluted territories of Ukraine and Belarus, infringements of the rate of physical development in those irradiated in utero, premature birth more common in the polluted territories of Belarus, delayed rate of growth in the radioactively polluted parts of Belarus.</li>
<li>Respiratory system diseases occurred everywhere in the polluted territories and tend to correlate with levels of radioactive pollution:- asphyxia was observed in half of the 345 surveyed newborns irradiated in utero in Ukraine 10. Other pathologies</li>
<li>were latent bronchospasm, bronchial asthma, chronic bronchitis, chronic nasopharyngeal pathology, acute respiratory diseases.</li>
<li>Cardiovascular system diseases in children occurred more frequently in the polluted territories, including infringements of cardiac rhythm, infringements of vegetative regulation of cardiac activity, arterial hypertension, reduced numbers of В- and Т—lymphocytes, lymphopenia, brachycardia, lymphoid hyperplasia, haematological disease, heart conductivity, and reduced elasticity of arterial vessels even in apparently healthy children.</li>
<li>Dental diseases in children are more frequent in the Chernobyl radioactively polluted territories. The frequency of some dental diseases correlates with levels of radioactive pollution.</li>
<li>Congenital malformations. Increased rates of teratogenic effects all over Europe, with a dose dependent relationship found in a Bavarian study. It reports that in Europe there were also widespread increases in still birth, premature birth, low birth weight, Down's Syndrome, perinatal and neonatal deaths, and reduced birth rate. In Belarus, according to the Belarus National Genetic Monitoring Registry, there were post-Chernobyl increases in anencephaly, spina bifida, cleft lip, cleft palate, polydactyly, limb reduction, oesophageal atresia, anorectal atresia and multiple malformations. Many of the authors explicitly state that these phenomena are radiogenic. One, a researcher known for her caution, says only a third of congenital deformities of the face and jaw could be attributed to radiation. But it is a third, and those which are so attributed are said to be anomalously severe.</li>
<li>The proportion of children with impaired intellectual development is consistently greater in polluted areas. Irradiated children have not kept pace with other children. Disorders of intellectual development in children irradiated in utero in the polluted territories</li>
</ul><ol style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;"><li><b>are described as</b></li>
</ol><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
the most tragic consequences of the Chernobyl catastrophe’s impact on health.</blockquote><br />
<br />
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><b>The ECRR 2006 book has an entire chapter on the topic. Its author observes that the official French agency IRSN has recognised that the Central Nervous System is radiosensitive. Children irradiated in utero whose mothers had been evacuated or who lived in a zone contaminated with between 5 and 40 Ci/km2, suffered a greater frequency of neurotic disorders, CNS pathology and delay of mental development, compared with children in the less polluted areas of Belarus. The depression of intellectual development was massively greater in the irradiated group than in the controls; pathologies include neurotic disorders, asthenic syndrome, vegetative dystonia, CNS organic pathology, delayed mental development, EEG pathology, delayed developme</b><b>nt of speech, lowered psycho-emotional development, low IQ indices, deviations in mental development, memory impairment, immaturity for school, organic pathology of the brain, decreased and delayed psychomotor development, epilepsy and epilepsy-related conditions, and schizophrenia.</b><br />
<b><br />
</b></div><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17px;"><b>Overview of health in Lugyny district<br />
</b></span><br />
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><b>Here are some health statistics for one remote Ukrainian administrative district from the Zhytomir area – Lugyny district, which is not one of the most contaminated regions. Comparison is made between two years just before the accident (1984 – 1985) and 1995 - 1996, ten years after. All the medical information for this study was collected by the same people in the Central Hospital before and after the catastrophe, using the same equipment and the same protocols.</b></div><br />
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><b>The p</b><b>roportion of detected tuberculoses which were of a very aggressive type doubled. Endocrine pathology in children increased 10-fold. Goitres were not registered before the accident but ten years later were found in 12 or 13 children per 1000. Neonatal morbidity increased between 4 and 13-fold. Total mortality increased from 10.9 per 1000 to 15.5. Life expectancy declined from 75 years to 65.<br />
</b></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><b>Life-expectancy remaining to a patient in Lugyny District after being diagnosed with lung or stomach cancer shrank from 38 – 62 months before the accident to 2 – 7 months afterwards. The CERRIE Minority Report (p. 126) observes that this reduction in life expectancy runs counter to the view that increased incidence of cancer since the Chernobyl accident has been an artefact caused by increased vigilance and hence better ascertainment. Better ascertainment ought to mean earlier detection and hence more effective treatment and a better prognosis. In the Lugyny overview we see a dram</b><b>atically worse prognosis — after a lung or stomach cancer diagnosis the average patient now survives for only 4½ months, instead of between 3 and 5 years before Chernobyl. Only four explanations are readily apparent: </b></div><br />
<ul style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;"><li>doctors are not looking for cancer as assiduously as before Chernobyl, so they</li>
<li>detect it very late in its course;</li>
<li>treatment resources are much reduced;</li>
<li>cancer patients fear that their cancer was caused by radiation;</li>
<li>the post-Chernobyl cancers are of a more aggressive type.</li>
</ul><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><b>Th</b><b>e</b><b> first of these is contrary to the general pattern. The second is poss</b><b>ible and should be investigated. The third is, to put it mildly, con</b><b>tentious. The fourth is consistent with many observations in the region including non-cancer diseases.<br />
</b></div><a href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_eJ5l4VAZnNw/Rv7jNP8tOkI/AAAAAAAAAcc/DW7fTCAwpwA/s1600-h/78.jpg" style="color: #336688; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5115776043498420802" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_eJ5l4VAZnNw/Rv7jNP8tOkI/AAAAAAAAAcc/DW7fTCAwpwA/s400/78.jpg" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 221, 238); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(204, 221, 238); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(204, 221, 238); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(204, 221, 238); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; cursor: move; float: left; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0pt; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0pt; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 4px;" /></a><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: x-small;">Low Level Radiation Campaign,</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: x-small;">Richard Bramhall,</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/Richard%20Bramhall,%20bramhall@llrc.org%20" style="color: #336688; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none;">bramhall@llrc.org </a></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal;"><i></i></span></i><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 23px;"><i><span style="font-size: 20px;">15th September 2006 </span></i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
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[1] 2003 Recommendations of the ECRR The Health Effects of Ionising Radiation Exposure at Low Doses and Low Dose Rates for Radiation Protection Purposes: Regulators’ Edition Edited by ChrisBusby with Rosalie Bertell, Inge Schmitz-Feuerhake, Molly Scott Cato and Alexei Yablokov. Published on Behalf of the European Committee on Radiation Risk Comité Européen sur le Risque del’Irradiation, Brussels by Green Audit, 2003. ISBN: 1 897761 24 4<br />
<br />
[2] DRPH/2005-20: Health consequences of chronic internal contamination by radionuclides. Comments on the ECRR report “The health effects of ionising radiation exposure at low doses for radiation protection purposes” and IRSN recommendations.<br />
<br />
[3] 2005 Recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection<br />
<br />
[4] Minority Report of the UK Department of Health / Department of Environment (DEFRA) Committee Examining Radiation Risks of Internal Emitters (CERRIE); Sosiumi Press Aberystwyth. ISBN 0- 9543081-1-5<br />
<br />
[5] ECRR Chernobyl 20 Years On: Health Effects of the Chernobyl Accident. European Committee on Radiation Risk Documents of the ECRR 2006 No1 Edited by C.C.Busby and A.V. Yablokov Published on behalf of the European Committee on Radiation Risk Comité Européen sur le Risque de l’Irradiation, Brussels by Green Audit, 2006. ISBN: 1-897761-25-2<br />
<br />
[6] CERRIE Minority Report Technical Annex 2<br />
<br />
[7] Table 7.1 of Annexe A<br />
<br />
[8] For references to this section see Radioactive Times Vol 6 No 1 on <a href="http://www.llrc.org/" style="color: #336688; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">www.llrc.org</a></span></i><br />
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><i><b>Find out more about how survivors of Chernobyl have coped with the effects of the disaster:</b><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.chernobyl.info/index.php?userhash=13180194&navID=543&lID=2" style="color: #336688; text-decoration: none;">Interviews on Chernobyl from Chernobyl.info</a><br />
<a href="http://www.chernobyl.info/index.php?userhash=13180194&navID=581&lID=2" style="color: #336688; text-decoration: none;">“Chernobyl Journey”—For the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, Belarusian journalist Vasily Semashko travels through the Chernobyl region and reports on his impressions about everyday life of the people living in the contaminated area</a><br />
<a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5355810" style="color: #336688; text-decoration: none;">NPR: ‘Voices of Chernobyl’: Survivors’ Stories</a></i></span></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i><span style="font-size: 13px;"><a href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_eJ5l4VAZnNw/Rv7oFv8tOlI/AAAAAAAAAck/QVLI7kXp8wI/s1600-h/80.jpg" style="color: #336688; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5115781412207540818" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_eJ5l4VAZnNw/Rv7oFv8tOlI/AAAAAAAAAck/QVLI7kXp8wI/s320/80.jpg" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 221, 238); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(204, 221, 238); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(204, 221, 238); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(204, 221, 238); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; cursor: move; float: right; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 4px;" /></a></span></i></div><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;"><i></i></span><br />
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><i><br />
</i></span></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><i><br />
</i></span></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><i><br />
</i></span></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><i><br />
</i></span></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><i><br />
</i></span></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><i><br />
</i></span></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><i><br />
</i></span></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><i><br />
</i></span></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><i>More info about Chernobyl:</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13px;"><i><a href="http://www.chernobyl.info/" style="color: #336688; text-decoration: none;">Chernobyl.info</a><br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster" style="color: #336688; text-decoration: none;">wikipedia entry on “Chernobyl Disaster”</a><br />
<a href="http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/Focus/Chernobyl/index.html" style="color: #336688; text-decoration: none;">In Focus : Chernobyl (International Atomic Energy Agency)</a><br />
<a href="http://www.ccpusa.org/" style="color: #336688; text-decoration: none;">Chernobyl Children’s Project</a></i></span></div><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;"><i></i></span><br />
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><i>Read articles in New America Media category: <a href="http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_alt_category.html?category_id=34" style="color: #336688; text-decoration: none;">Environment</a></i></span></div><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></i><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal;"><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><b>NOW the time to take out a pen and start writing.</b></span></i></span></i></div><br />
<table style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;"><tbody>
<tr><td valign="top"><div class="navmain" style="line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.motherearth.org/energy/index_en.php" style="color: #336688; text-decoration: none;"><img align="left" border="0" src="http://www.motherearth.org/nothanks.jpg" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 221, 238); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(204, 221, 238); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(204, 221, 238); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(204, 221, 238); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; cursor: move; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 4px;" width="120" /></a></div></td><td valign="top"><div class="navmain" style="line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.motherearth.org/energy/index_en.php" style="color: #336688; text-decoration: none;"><b>Energy and Climate Campaign</b></a><br />
Nuclear power is not a solution to climate change!<br />
<a href="http://www.motherearth.org/energy/nuclear.php" style="color: #336688; text-decoration: none;">Six myths about nuclear energy</a> | <a href="http://www.motherearth.org/uranium/index_en.php" style="color: #336688; text-decoration: none;">Uranium mining</a> | <a href="http://www.foeeurope.org/activities/Nuclear/nuclear.htm" style="color: #336688; text-decoration: none;">Safe Energy for Europe (FoE Europe)</a> | <a href="http://www.foeeurope.org/climate/" style="color: #336688; text-decoration: none;">Climate & Energy Campaign (FoE Europe)</a> |<a href="http://www.foei.org/en/campaigns/climate/index.html" style="color: #336688; text-decoration: none;">Stop climate change (FoE International)</a></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;"><i></i></span><br />
<table style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;"><tbody>
<tr><td valign="top"><div class="navmain" style="line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.motherearth.org/nuke/index_en.php" style="color: #336688; text-decoration: none;"><img align="left" border="0" src="http://www.motherearth.org/images/nuclearprotest1.jpg" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 221, 238); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(204, 221, 238); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(204, 221, 238); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(204, 221, 238); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; cursor: move; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 4px;" /></a></div></td><td valign="top"><div class="navmain" style="line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.motherearth.org/nuke/index_en.php" style="color: #336688; text-decoration: none;"><b>Nuclear Disarmament</b></a><br />
Campaign for the complete elimination of all nuclear weapons<br />
<a href="http://www.motherearth.org/m4p/index_en.php" style="color: #336688; text-decoration: none;">Mayors For Peace</a> | <a href="http://www.motherearth.org/nuke/info.php" style="color: #336688; text-decoration: none;">Nuclear information</a> | <a href="http://www.motherearth.org/nuke/intro.php" style="color: #336688; text-decoration: none;">Nuclear Weapons: An introduction</a> | <a href="http://www.abolition2000europe.org/" style="color: #336688; text-decoration: none;">Abolition 2000 Europe</a> | <a href="http://www.motherearth.org/inspection/index_en.php" style="color: #336688; text-decoration: none;">Citizens' Weapons Inspections</a></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;"><i></i></span><br />
<table style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;"><tbody>
<tr><td valign="top"><div class="navmain" style="line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.motherearth.org/du/index_en.php" style="color: #336688; text-decoration: none;"><img align="left" border="0" src="http://www.motherearth.org/du/du.gif" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 221, 238); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(204, 221, 238); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(204, 221, 238); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(204, 221, 238); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; cursor: move; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 4px;" /></a></div></td><td valign="top"><div class="navmain" style="line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.motherearth.org/du/index_en.php" style="color: #336688; text-decoration: none;"><b>Depleted Uranium</b></a><br />
Campaign against the use, production, and financing of Depleted Uranium weapons<br />
<a href="http://www.bandepleteduranium.org/" style="color: #336688; text-decoration: none;">International Coalition to Ban Depleted Uranium Weapons</a></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17px;"><i><br />
Sign Women Title Holders petition!<br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/Sign%20Women%20Title%20Holders%20petition%21" style="color: #336688; text-decoration: none;">http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Iroquois</a></i></span><i style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 17px;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Must watch videos</span><br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvAJ_u3Q0Hw&feature=related">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvAJ_u3Q0Hw&feature=related</a></span></i></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;"><i>Chernobyl Decay and Deformed children</i></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;"><i><br />
</i></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;"><i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=101OEaksU0s&feature=related">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=101OEaksU0s&feature=related</a></i></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;">Chernobyl 2006</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ooj0-pWuTs">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ooj0-pWuTs</a></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<h1 id="watch-headline-title" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-size: 1.8333em; font-weight: bold; height: 1.1363em; line-height: 1.1363em; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-height: 1.1363em; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span class="long-title" dir="ltr" id="eow-title" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 0.9166em; letter-spacing: -0.5px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="Explosion at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant, at least 4 injured">Explosion at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant</span></span></span></h1><div style="font-size: 12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span class="long-title" dir="ltr" id="eow-title" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 0.9166em; letter-spacing: -0.5px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="Explosion at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant, at least 4 injured"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span class="long-title" dir="ltr" id="eow-title" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; letter-spacing: -0.5px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="Explosion at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant, at least 4 injured"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHfR_wybvw0">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHfR_wybvw0</a></span></span></span></div></div><div><i style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-size: 17px;"></span></i><br />
<h1 id="watch-headline-title" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.8333em; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; height: 1.1363em; line-height: 1.1363em; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-height: 1.1363em; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><i style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-size: 17px;"><span class="" dir="ltr" id="eow-title" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="Huge explosion at Japan nuclear plant">Huge explosion at Japan nuclear plant</span></span></i></h1><div style="color: black; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal;"><i style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-size: 17px;"><span class="" dir="ltr" id="eow-title" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="Huge explosion at Japan nuclear plant"><br />
</span></span></i></div><br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-size: large;">NO MORE NUCLEAR THREATS!!!!</span></i><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 13px;"><i><br />
</i></span></div><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;"><i><br />
Send this out. Go through your email list and send it to everyone you know. You can easily find this at:<br />
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When anyone, anywhere reaches out for help, I want the hand of Earthlings Anonymous to always be there. And for that, I AM Responsible.<br />
You are part of the ONEiverse. As I love the ONE I love you as I am now able.<br />
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Grant us the courage to change what we can, the serenity to accept what we cannot change- and the wisdom to know the difference.<br />
<br />
The Killing Must Stop Save our Mother Earth Consume less and share more Take some time for an earth walk today Save our sacred spaces save all totem as well as all other animals NO MORE POISONS<br />
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<b>Some sloganz</b>:<br />
Less babble, more DO.<br />
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Always do your best.<br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">Dear Virginia,</div><div style="text-align: justify;">We were all shocked by what happened in Wisconsin Wednesday night.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Eighteen Republican state senators broke faith with the people who elected them. They broke their word. They may have even broken the law.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">They wanted to bust public sector unions -- the last line of defense for the rights of teachers, police officers, firefighters, nurses, and other public servants -- so badly that they were willing to cheat the system.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Let’s be clear: They did this in the hopes that, with the bill passed, the crowds would dissipate and we’d let this go.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">But they were wrong. We’re not going to let this go. We’re going to help the people of Wisconsin fight this bill -- and the illegal power grab it took to pass it -- every step of the way. We’re going to help them hold accountable the elected officials who sold out workers and subverted democracy.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">And, most of all, we’re going to make sure that this is the end -- not the beginning -- of the right wing’s attempt to destroy the middle class. It took a power-hungry, corporate-backed governor and 18 senators with no respect for the law or the struggle of working families to bring this issue to national attention. But the fight to stand up for the middle class against corporations and the politicians they own has always been a national fight.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">It’s up to us to make sure we win that fight for the working families whose voices -- whose livelihoods -- are at stake.</div>Thank you. And please stay tuned.<br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=17343979" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
Al<br />
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An interesting thing has developed. M&I bank was a major contributor<br />
to Governor Walker.<br />
This bank has been on boycott Walker lists for weeks. Somehow in the<br />
last day and a half this thing got legs.<br />
People started telling other people to pull their money out of M&I and<br />
to protest the banks over their donations to Walker.<br />
A tweet came across last night about 10pm for people to show up at M&I<br />
tomorrow morning (this morning) and withdraw their money.<br />
The firefighters union was there at 9am at the downtown Madison branch<br />
and took out their $180,000. Lots of people followed suit and there<br />
was a large crowd with signs out front most of the morning from what<br />
accounts I saw.<br />
Word is now from multiple sources that M&I in Madison closed for the day.<br />
<br />
They were doing this for reasons other than UnCut's specific purpose<br />
but this is just awesome to see. People being fed up with something<br />
and taking action.<br />
It didn't take that many people to do this and it was concentrated in<br />
Madison at least as far as a big crowd. No reports yet how many people<br />
went into other branches<br />
in the region to close accounts.<br />
<br />
Banks and big businesses try to poo poo boycotts and protests and a<br />
few disgruntled people and that they don't matter. But they do and it<br />
doesn't take huge numbers to do it.<br />
Companies being hit with WI boycotts are in a panic, issuing press<br />
releases and trying to deny culpability for their political donations.<br />
Companies don't do that unless they are in fear.<br />
These are WI companies that have national exposure but this is only<br />
from people aware of the WI goings on. Again, not the total<br />
demographic of the US jumping on it.<br />
<br />
Koch Industries has been in damage control mode for weeks as boycotts<br />
of their consumer products made rounds and started to be hinted at in<br />
mainstream media. If a company that big is in fear of grassroots<br />
boycotts they do matter. Last week Georgia Pacific products were on<br />
sale just about everywhere I looked.<br />
<br />
So what does this have to do with Uncut? Look at the big change a few<br />
people made. Small groups of angry people made companies react.<br />
<br />
I think the in masse closing of accounts at B of A could be a great<br />
tactic if there is a way to get enough current customers on board to<br />
do it.<br />
<br />
Nancy in SD</span><br />
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To begin with, there's a semigigantic list of public and quasi-public agencies ostensibly keeping their eyes on the economy, a dense alphabet soup of banking, insurance, S&L, securities and commodities regulators like the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), as well as supposedly "self-regulating organizations" like the New York Stock Exchange. All of these outfits, by law, can at least begin the process of catching and investigating financial criminals, though none of them has prosecutorial power.</p> <p>The major federal agency on the Wall Street beat is the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC watches for violations like insider trading, and also deals with so-called "disclosure violations" — i.e., making sure that all the financial information that publicly traded companies are required to make public actually jibes with reality. But the SEC doesn't have prosecutorial power either, so in practice, when it looks like someone needs to go to jail, they refer the case to the Justice Department. And since the vast majority of crimes in the financial services industry take place in Lower Manhattan, cases referred by the SEC often end up in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. Thus, the two top cops on Wall Street are generally considered to be that U.S. attorney — a job that has been held by thunderous prosecutorial personae like Robert Morgenthau and Rudy Giuliani — and the SEC's director of enforcement.</p> <p>The relationship between the SEC and the DOJ is necessarily close, even symbiotic. Since financial crime-fighting requires a high degree of financial expertise — and since the typical drug-and-terrorism-obsessed FBI agent can't balance his own checkbook, let alone tell a synthetic CDO from a credit default swap — the Justice Department ends up leaning heavily on the SEC's army of 1,100 number-crunching investigators to make their cases. In theory, it's a well-oiled, tag-team affair: Billionaire Wall Street Asshole commits fraud, the NYSE catches on and tips off the SEC, the SEC works the case and delivers it to Justice, and Justice perp-walks the Asshole out of Nobu, into a Crown Victoria and off to 36 months of push-ups, license-plate making and Salisbury steak.</p> <p>That's the way it's supposed to work. But a veritable mountain of evidence indicates that when it comes to Wall Street, the justice system not only sucks at punishing financial criminals, it has actually evolved into a highly effective mechanism for <em>protecting</em> financial criminals. This institutional reality has absolutely nothing to do with politics or ideology — it takes place no matter who's in office or which party's in power. To understand how the machinery functions, you have to start back at least a decade ago, as case after case of financial malfeasance was pursued too slowly or not at all, fumbled by a government bureaucracy that too often is on a first-name basis with its targets. Indeed, the shocking pattern of nonenforcement with regard to Wall Street is so deeply ingrained in Washington that it raises a profound and difficult question about the very nature of our society: whether we have created a class of people whose misdeeds are no longer perceived as crimes, almost no matter what those misdeeds are. The SEC and the Justice Department have evolved into a bizarre species of social surgeon serving this nonjailable class, expert not at administering punishment and justice, but at finding and removing criminal responsibility from the bodies of the accused.</p> <p>The systematic lack of regulation has left even the country's top regulators frustrated. Lynn Turner, a former chief accountant for the SEC, laughs darkly at the idea that the criminal justice system is broken when it comes to Wall Street. "I think you've got a wrong assumption — that we even <em>have</em> a law-enforcement agency when it comes to Wall Street," he says.</p> <p>In the hierarchy of the SEC, the chief accountant plays a major role in working to pursue misleading and phony financial disclosures. Turner held the post a decade ago, when one of the most significant cases was swallowed up by the SEC bureaucracy. In the late 1990s, the agency had an open-and-shut case against the Rite Aid drugstore chain, which was using diabolical accounting tricks to cook their books. But instead of moving swiftly to crack down on such scams, the SEC shoved the case into the "deal with it later" file. "The Philadelphia office literally did nothing with the case for a year," Turner recalls. "Very much like the New York office with Madoff." The Rite Aid case dragged on for years — and by the time it was finished, similar accounting fiascoes at Enron and WorldCom had exploded into a full-blown financial crisis. The same was true for another SEC case that presaged the Enron disaster. The agency knew that appliance-maker Sunbeam was using the same kind of accounting scams to systematically hide losses from its investors. But in the end, the SEC's punishment for Sunbeam's CEO, Al "Chainsaw" Dunlap — widely regarded as one of the biggest assholes in the history of American finance — was a fine of $500,000. Dunlap's net worth at the time was an estimated $100 million. The SEC also barred Dunlap from ever running a public company again — forcing him to retire with a mere $99.5 million. Dunlap passed the time collecting royalties from his self-congratulatory memoir. Its title: <em>Mean Business.</em></p>More at the link above ...<div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"
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<tr><td class="vTop prs event_fullbleed" style="color: red; text-align: center;"><div class="summary fsxxl fwb"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tYymGFV_T7M/TVwhAQMZgsI/AAAAAAAACJs/g8AWJfVbOPE/s1600/USuncut_reasonably_small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tYymGFV_T7M/TVwhAQMZgsI/AAAAAAAACJs/g8AWJfVbOPE/s320/USuncut_reasonably_small.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="summary fsxxl fwb" style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="summary fsxxl fwb" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Tax Evader TARGET, pay your share !</span></div></td><td class="vTop phs"><br />
</td><td class="vTop pls event_nowrap"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table class="uiInfoTable mvm profileInfoTable mvm mvm"><tbody>
<tr><th class="label">Time</th><td class="data"><div><span style="font-size: large;">Saturday, February 26 · <span class="dtstart" title="2011-02-26T11:00:00-08:00">11:00am</span> - <span class="dtend" title="2011-02-26T14:00:00-08:00">2:00pm</span></span></div></td></tr>
<tr class="spacer"><td colspan="2"><hr /></td></tr>
</tbody><tbody>
<tr><th class="label">Location</th><td class="data"><div class="location vcard"><span style="font-size: large;"><a class="url" href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Midway-Super-Target/145838885439638"><span class="fn org">Midway Super Target</span></a></span><br />
<div class="street-address"><span style="font-size: large;">1300 University Avenue West</span></div><div class="locality"><span style="font-size: large;">Saint Paul, MN</span></div></div></td></tr>
<tr class="spacer"><td colspan="2"><hr /></td></tr>
</tbody><tbody>
<tr><th class="label">Created By</th><td class="data"><div class="uiCollapsedList uiCollapsedListHidden organizer" id="u273790_3"><span class="visible"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/virginia.simson">Virginia Simson</a></span></div></td></tr>
<tr class="spacer"><td colspan="2"><hr /></td></tr>
</tbody><tbody>
<tr><th class="label">More Info</th><td class="data"><div class="description" style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;">Target has 8 offshore subsidies to avoid fair taxation ! Meanwhile we all experience cuts to our services.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
Stop the cuts! Tax the rich !</span><br />
</div><div class="description" style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;">If you are affected by tax cuts, do you think Target should be avoiding its share?</span><br />
</div><div class="description" style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;">Let's educate people - So, bring your literature, signs, costumes, music, street theater and be part of a new international movement ! </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">We will stand STRONG and UNITED against injustice. </span></div><div class="description"><br />
</div><div class="description"></div><div class="description"></div></td></tr>
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A crowd numbering in the millions and spreading out for kilometers in all directions from Cairo’s Tahrir Square broke out into singing, dancing, and tears of joy. Similar scenes took place across Egypt, including at a demonstration of hundreds of thousands in Alexandria.</p> <p> </p> <p>Mubarak’s departure came after 18 days of demonstrations and strikes that had waxed and waned, but that had generally grown in size and scope in spite of the brutal oppression of the regime. At this stage in the revolution, at least 300 have been killed―the real number is doubtless far higher―and thousands have been arrested and “disappeared”.</p> <p>The decisive moment came Wednesday and Thursday, when the Egyptian working class moved to the forefront, partially or completely shutting down every sector of the economy.</p> <p> </p> <p>The strike wave propelled the Egyptian military to finally move against Mubarak. Up until then, the Obama administration backed Mubarak, fearful that his removal would only spread the revolutionary contagion beyond Egypt and set the stage for a showdown between the Egyptian workers and the military, which will be neither willing nor able to address the social and democratic grievances of the masses.</p> <p> </p> <p>There had been many indications that in his televised Thursday evening speech Mubarak would announce his resignation. Earlier in the day the nation’s supreme military council convened before television cameras, in the conspicuous absence of Mubarak and Suleiman, and issued a document titled “Communiqué #1” that suggested a coup d'état had taken place. The same day a general appeared in Tahrir Square and told demonstrators their demands would be met.</p> <p>Meanwhile, in the US, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director Leon Panetta told Congress he expected Mubarak would step down later in the day.</p> <p> </p> <p>When Mubarak appeared on television Thursday night and provocatively insisted he would serve out his term, while delegating additional authority to Suleiman, formerly the nation’s top intelligence official and a close collaborator with the US and Israel, the stage was set for a social explosion.</p> <p> </p> <p>Up until he made his announcement, it was unclear whether or not Mubarak would resign. In the morning, the military council issued another statement, “Communiqué #2,” supporting the dictator’s speech of the night earlier. The document indicated the military would maintain its allegiance to Mubarak indefinitely. The Obama administration once again refused to publicly call for Mubarak’s resignation.</p> <p> </p> <p>But Mubarak’s speech only deepened the resolve of the population. Friday’s demonstration centered in Tahrir Square was the largest to date. Demonstrations erupted elsewhere in Cairo, Egypt’s capital and largest city, including around Mubarak’s palace and the headquarters of the hated state television network. In the afternoon it was reported that Mubarak and his family had left the city for his Red Sea palace at Sharm el-Sheikh.</p> <p>Heavily armed contingents of the Egyptian military were stationed throughout the city, raising the specter of a bloody confrontation, but as the day wore on fraternization between demonstrators and rank-and-file soldiers increased.</p> <p> </p> <p>Alexandria, Egypt’s second largest city, also saw its largest protest on Friday, a demonstration that numbered in the hundreds of thousands and snaked along the Mediterranean coastline for kilometers. Mubarak’s Alexandria palace also became a focal point of the demonstration.</p> <p> </p> <p>In the industrial city of Suez, a crowd estimated in the tens of thousands massed around ten government buildings. In the Sinai, the town of El-Arish was the scene of armed clashes between demonstrators and police. Police fired guns, and demonstrators responded by throwing firebombs and setting police cars alight. The governor of a southern Egyptian province was forced to flee the region in the face of violent protests in the morning.</p> <p>It is believed that Mubarak’s cabinet has been or soon will be disbanded, as have both the upper and lower house of parliament. It appears that Suleiman, the favored heir of both the US and Israel, will not assume the presidency. The ruling National Democratic Party also showed signs of dissolution, with its chairman announcing his resignation minutes before Mubarak’s resignation was announced.</p> <p>Little is known at this point what steps the military regime will take. A “Communiqué #3” issued by the military command after Mubarak’s resignation said only that it was “studying” how it could meet the demands of the population. It did not lift the state of emergency that has governed the country uninterruptedly for decades, saying that it would only be lifted after the current protests had ended.</p> <p>The main opposition figures and parties, including both Mohammed El Baradei and the Muslim Brotherhood―which have worked systematically to contain protests―have insisted that the military be brought into any government. As late as Thursday night, a desperate El Baradei pleaded for the military to intervene to prevent the deepening of the revolution. "The army must save the country now," he said after Mubarak’s speech on Thursday night. “I call on the Egyptian army to immediately interfere to rescue Egypt. The credibility of the army is on the line."</p> <p>After Mubarak departed, El Baradei declared victory. “The country has been liberated after decades of repression,” he said.</p> <p><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">There is in fact not the slightest possibility that a military-backed government will meet the demands of the Egyptian masses―for jobs, good wages, and housing.</span> The Egyptian military government is itself profoundly committed to the existing order. Its leading figures are deeply integrated into the business enterprises, and it has been for more than three decades the basic guarantor of the Mubarak regime.</p> <p>The military’s assumption of power, with the backing of the Obama administration and bourgeois political forces like El Baradei and the Muslim Brotherhood, can only set the stage for a new phase in the revolution.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"
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<i style="font-weight: bold;">We the People</i><br />
<i style="font-weight: bold;"> </i> <br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><b>I.</b> Powers and Rights Reserved To We the People, Never Delegated or Violated Without Consent</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">A. The People are expressly defined as human beings and does not refer to corporations or contractual relationships.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">B. No contract, agreement, or promise may ever bind any human to refuse to enforce the law, or prohibit them from speaking on matters of public interest.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">C. We the People may believe anything, including the possible belief that this Constitution must be discarded and replaced with a superior document which defends the People and protects their power to enforce this Constitution against the Government.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">D. The People are educated to apply the lessons of history to ensure rights are preserved, power asserted, and this Constitution is protected from domestic and foreign enemies. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">E. The People have the enforceable right and power to review any public document and access any public official.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">F. The People have the enforceable right to engage in any speech, communication, or discussion on issues of war crimes, government incompetence, or allegations of reckless government planning and maladministration.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">G. Government officials, agencies, departments may not invoke any power or right they have denied to the People.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">H. The People have the right to affordable housing. Where none is available, the government is denied the power to prosecute anyone for not living in a home, or residing in a public park, open forest, or public lands.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">I. The People have the enforceable right to freely travel, without questions, and without delay. Any law enforcement officer, agents, or contacted security official who uses any ruse, scheme, or deception to engage in pretextual stops shall be enforced as a violation of this Constitution.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">J. The People have the enforceable right to compel government officials, contractors, and securtit personnel to identify themselves, disclose their policies and procedures, and respond to complaints about violations of this Constitution, the Supreme Law, or laws of war.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">K. The People may not be subject to any electronic surveillance except on probable cause and a warrant before a judicial tribunal. The President, Congress and others are expressly denied the power to enact, create, use, or rely on quasi-judicial tribunals to self-certify warrants to conduct surveillance.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">L. All denied powers to the US Government in this Constitution are reserved to the People to be used to defend the Constitution.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>II.</b> Powers and Rights Reserved to States</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">A. States shall have authority to enforce any law within their jurisdiction. Failure to enforce the laws of war shall be prosecuted as a war crime.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">B. States shall, when the Federal Government refuses to enforce the Constitution or Supreme Law, enforce the national and international law against contractors, legal counsel, state or US government officials.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">C. Any state may start impeachment investigations or proceedings against the President, Member of Congress, or US government official on issues of international laws of war, domestic rebellion, or violations of the Supreme Law oath of office, or Geneva Conventions. The States shall, upon receipt of an impeachment investigation or conviction from any other state, shall within 10 days debate that resolution. If convicted by 2/3 of the States, that US government official shall be removed from office. Any effort to thwart State efforts to enforce the US Constitution through impeachment investigations or impeachment proceedings at the State level may be construed as a subsequent violation of this Constitution and laws of war.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">D. The States may, without notice, organize themselves to collectively defend this Constitution from the domestic enemies in the United States government. The States Governors have the standing power, right, and authority to use deadly combat force to enforce this Constitution against US government officials.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">E. A failure of any State official to enforce the laws of war shall be subject to a war crimes trial within 90 days of discovering that evidence. Where there are credible allegations of war crimes, a failure to investigate shall be construed as a subsequent war crime, punishable by the death penalty.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">F. States have the power to enforce contract obligations between contractors and the US government which affect the rights of their State citizens. Failure to enforce these contractual obligations against the contractors or US government could be construed as a subsequent violation under the laws of war and US Constitution against legal counsel, state officials, or court officers.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>III</b>. Independent Branch</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">A. All US government, contractor-provided, and legal counsel data shall be retained in an independent branch.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">B. The President, Congress, and Judicial branches have no power, right or claim to not fully fund this Independent Branch.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">C. The Independent Branch conducts electronic surveillance of the US government, stores that data, and ensures there are independent, safe, retained records of all US government transaction, including conversations and memos between legal counsel and government officials. Once created for the government or connected with any legal or illegal activity, these records are public records. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">D. The data may be seen only upon a showing of reasonable belief or suspicion by the United States Congress, Court, or Executive Branch that the information may be useful in enforcing the Constitution, Supreme Law, or Geneva Conventions.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">E. Private citizens may view any data, unless the US government provides sufficient, detailed evidence why that request for information should not be met for bonafide, lawful secrets. Any effort to hide evidence behind a claim of "state secrets," where that claim is linked with an effort to bypass the Constitution, oath of office, Supreme Law, or laws of war may be punishable by the death penalty.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">F. All government data belongs to the People. Any legal counsel working for the US government shall ensure that the People's right to reliable information is protected. A failure to protect this information could be construed as a war crime.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>IV</b>. Prosecutorial Branch</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">A. All prosecutorial options are denied of the President.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">B. The Prosecutorial branch has the power to raise independent combat power, support them, and may lawfully use that deadly combat force to confront Members of Congress, the Judicial Branch Officers, or the Presidents upon showing of probable cause for war crimes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">C. The prosecutorial power is the exclusive power of the prosecution branch. However, anyone may make a claim of illegal activity, and enforce the laws of the United States and States respectively. Any effort to block anyone from unilaterally attempting to enforce the laws of war through discovery, investigation, and open discussion of those alleged war crimes shall be construed as a possible subsequent offense under the laws of war.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">D. Legal counsel are subject to public review, audit, and can be required, with fair notice, of a requirement to demonstrate before any court their compliance with the laws of war.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">E. Legal counsel may be denied authority to conduct discovery during any investigation when that discovery is linked with efforts that would thwart war crimes investigation, enforcement of the Supreme law or Geneva Conventions.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>V</b>. Judicial Branch</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">A. The Judicial Branch is above the Legislative Branch and Executive Branch only in order of precedence. The Judicial Branch is a co-equal branch, and closest to the People and Constitution. It is least responsive, and most slow to the People's daily interests to enforce the Constitution and Supreme Law or Geneva Conventions. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">B. Where the Judicial Branch does not timely enforce the Constitution, Supreme Law, or laws of war, the States and People retain the power and right to investigate and prosecute allegations of US government illegal activity, war crimes, or violations of the Supreme law.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">C. All precedents under the laws of war are binding on the Judicial Branch, US government, and the People through enforcement actions.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">D. Any decision by any judicial officer not to fully enforce the laws of war, Supreme Law, or this Constitution may be construed as a war crime, subject to the death penalty.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>VI</b>. Legislative Branch</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">A. The Legislative Branch is listed after the Judicial Branch because it is less responsive to the People.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">B. The Members of Congress may be stopped between sessions and held to account for their failure to enforce the laws of war.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">C. Refusing to investigate or impeach the President, Judicial Officers, or any current or former US government official for alleged war crimes, maladministration, illegal warfare, or other crimes against the People, States, or US Government shall be prima facie evidence of an intent to not fully assert ones oath of office, and punishable by the death penalty under the laws of war. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">D. There are three chambers to the Congress. The Senate and House have a legal duty to fully enforce the laws. Any decision to not timely review evidence of impeachable offenses, or not investigate war crimes or maladministration could be construed as subsequent offenses under the laws of war.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">E. The Superior Chamber shall decide, before any debate, whether the proposed bill is or is not Constitutional. This determination is subject to approval, challenge, and rejection by the People, States, and Judicial Branch.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">F. The Congress is denied the exclusive power to make rules. Any rule which prohibits any investigation into alleged malfeasance in re the laws of war, Supreme Law, or oath of office is illegal, and may be construed as a subsequent offense under the laws of war.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">G. The Congress shall comply with public audits, and timely provide within 45 days of an audit report a statement of remedy, and outline a plan within 90 days to fully comply with all legal obligations under the Statute, Supreme Law, oath of office, and laws of war.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">H. The Congress may raise and support an army, and independently order that army only against the President when the President refuses to enforce the laws of war, or comply with his legal obligations under this Constitution.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>VII</b>. Executive Branch</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">A. The Executive Branch is led by three Presidents, co-equal with non-overlapping jurisdictions. The Executive Branch has one power: Executive Power. All actions taken under that one power are lesser authorities not powers. The Executive Branch has no power to create new powers or assign itself broader power.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">B. The Executive Branch is listed last because it is the least responsive to the People, and the greatest threat of tyranny to this Constitution. The President is a clerk, not a King or Emperor. The President only manages programs. The President has no power to ignore, rewrite, or refuse to enforce the law. Each of the three Presidents shall have an ongoing requirement to demonstrate to the People and States and Congress and Courts compliance with the Constitution, Supreme Law, oath of office, and laws of war.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">C. The Domestic Affairs President is responsive to the States and US Government on internal affairs. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">D. The Foreign Affairs President shall have exclusive power to interact with foreign powers. The Foreign Affairs President is denied any power to violate the laws of war, or use covert activity against American citizens. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">E. The Executive Branch, Congress, Judiciary, and Foreign Affairs President are denied the power to thwart any lawful State action to organize with foreign powers and agents to defend the US Constitution, enforce the laws of war, or protect the rights and powers of the People and States against domestic encroachments by the US government, legal counsel, or other US government officials.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">F. The Commander in Chief shall only have power to lead combat operations during war time. Congress shall conduct ongoing, public reviews whether the Commander in Chief is or is not competent in managing combat operations. The Presidents and Commander in Chief are denied the power to prohibit Congress from using electronic surveillance or use separately raised and supported armies to conduct this oversight during wartime and peacetime.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">G. The Executive Branch is denied the power to block anyone from getting access to illegal activity related to the laws of war.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">H. During Peacetime, the Commander in Chief shall periodically cooperate with ongoing Oversight of US combat forces to ensure they are combat ready, fully trained on the laws of war, and prepared to lawfully be used to defend the Constitution against foreign and domestic enemies.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">I. The Executive Branch and Presidents and officers, agents, contractors, and personnel are denied the power, right, or authority to order anyone to ignore any statute, law, legal requirement, or obligation under the Constitution.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">J. The Executive Branch has no power or authority to directly contact the Legislative Branch by name. The President may only request, not order other branches of government. All Communications between the Executive and Legislative Branch shall pass through the Prosecutorial Branch, and retained in the National Archives. Those records are available for public inspection at any time. The People have the enforceable right to compel the Executive Branch, Legislature, and Judicial Branch to produce documents.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">K. The Executive Branch, Congress, Judicial Branch, and Prosecutorial Branch, and States are denied the power to wage warfare, information warfare, or harass American civilians through his agents, combat troops, or third parties in the United states or from overseas. Any funds used for this illegal purpose belong to the People and States. Contracts used to enforce, compel, or organize this illegal activity are not enforceable, and contrary to public policy.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">L. The Presidents are denied a presumption of competence until proven. The President shall always have the burden of proof, and is expressly denied a presumption of good faith until demonstrated with overwhelming evidence in public. An election result is not proof of competence nor does it satisfy a presumption of good faith, only of mastery to win an election through legal or illegal methods and deception.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">M. The Executive Branch and Presidents and subordinate agency head, contractor, and employees are expressly denied any assurance any conversation he has related to illegal activity, war crimes, unlawful acts, or other threats to the US Constitution shall remain secret behind any shield, scheme, agreement, or technology. Any order a President or anyone gives to anyone to hide, destroy,not provide, or conceal evidence of illegal activity may be construed as a subsequent war crime, punishable by the death penalty. This restriction against following illegal orders may not be bypassed by claiming the order was from a non-person, electronic device, or other non-Constitutionally recognized entity, database, policy, guide, or other document.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">N. The Presidents are denied the power to use any combat force, technology, or other military weapon or plan against American civilians, except in cases of internal rebellion which only the Congress shall approve in writing. When the Congress fails to act, or abuses its authority, the State Governors may lawfully use deadly combat force to detain and enforce the laws of war prohibiting illegal use of force against American civilians.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">O. The Presidents are denied the power to induce any civilian to take any action that might deny them on any Geneva protections as a civilian. Any order, ruse, scheme, propaganda, or unreliable information to induce anyone to wage war, information warfare, or any action to harass civilians is punishable by the death penalty, and may be enforced as a violation of the laws of war.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">P. The President, when delegating any power to any agency head, agrees that that agency shall be organized as if it were a separate, lesser, and not coequal branch. Those agencies shall fully cooperate with the other branches of government to ensure power within the branch or department is divided. There is no single agency, division, or office in the Executive Branch that is beyond ongoing oversight by the other four branches.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">Q. The President shall have no power to block the Congress, States, Judiciary, Prosecutorial, and Independent Branch from a having co-equal status to oversee, manage, and organize that lesser branch. If the President refuses to substantially comply with that requirement, Congress may not lawfully provide funding for that agency, and the funds return to the States and People.</div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"
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<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">::::::::Like everyone else, I am watching with all four of my eyes the doings in Egypt and Tunisia. I am now an avid Facebook user, as this nets me better "news" than what I had before. I have a chance to peer into the Egyptian soul as never before.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I am posting a running commentary on all things Egyptian and trying heartily to avoid the Oped that proliferated like dandelions in April these days, UNLESS they indicate some major shift in perception or alliance. Or, like the NYT, they are official mouthpieces for some particular group, in their case the liberal democratic perspective as it pertains to "stability" and a critique of US foreign policy from their point of view. I've spent hours pouring over Egyptian blogs, magazines, FB pages, twitters, human rights organization reports. Sometimes my eyes are just looking for historical accuracy as it applies to US policy on Egypte and the Middle East. Remember; the outright torture and genocide of Paolestinian people is covert and largely unknown to those spoon fed US psyops.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">So, with interest today I find an article by Robert Fisk making the rounds. It is superbly fitting after reading Allen J. Roland's article on Veteran's Today yesterday and hurriedly translating arabic texts to find out what the pro democracy forces are demanding and putting in writing to go global/viral. They are frustrated with rhetoric and want ALL their power back; Wael has urged them all to DREAM the big one. The Vision Statement of Egypt is being written which will drive the further actions and priorities of these Freedom Fighters. Such big demands are being laid on the Egyptian leadership as this is a LIFE AND DEATH battle: Despite the fact that the prime "directive" is to communicate and trust, as Wael brought up:</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">1. They are busy burying the dead and looking for the disappeared and the beaten and tortured. The list, to be presented to the press is busily being prepared in time for the Friday funeral; Also, documenting all the assault cases and in one case, death of journalists and news organizations.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div></div><div style="text-align: justify;">2. They are busy recording all the crimes committed, including the looting of the treasury and corruption -- not just against lower level officials, but the Mubarak family (Going on on mainly arabic websites, some translations I have put on my FB notes " ) and making sure there are travel bans on these people. They are also documenting the abuses since Jan. 25, video, first hand accounts -- these include material related to the state-run TV stations and orders given to other media outlets</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">3. Refining demands while learning a WHOLE LOT of international law that is relevant.</div>Mubarak does not move on as Ben Ali did, so this is STRESSFUL to the entire process ..<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Meanwhile - I, just like you, do not like them as Sitting Targets " ! I wish Anonymous would attack the Egyptian government computers which have the capacity to give the military knowledge to go after and punish anyone who has participated in actions.<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">This is a bloodbath going on, and Barry&Co are morally culpable. Chris Hedges takes on that vast problem <a href="http://www.tvo.org/TVO/WebObjects/TVO.woa?videoid?740613004001" title="">here</a> and it well worth your while to give 27 minutes attention to it.<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The US tried to BUY OFF and influence pro-democracy leaders like 6th April, but support them verbally, hell no. They knew what was coming and hedged their bets. Hi LIAR y brought them over on a regular basis. She thought that they were "safer" than the Muslim Brotherhood.<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">When Wael and his friends outsmarted the US intended control of The Movement, Barry&Co immediately grew frustrated and have blown this crisis/opportunity in every way possible. Both public and private diplomacy "efforts" are DISASTERS. MurKa has shown itself to be only capable of supporting military action/elites. They have no concept of making friends based on moral, ethical, and values as the basis of true alliance. Choosing Wisner as the POINT MAN was a TOTAL disaster from everyone's point of view but Wisner's and Mubarak's -- and shows precisely why the US cannot be trusted. No one will convince me that they did not know of Wisner's CIA connections, his firm representing The Regime and his own personal investments in Egypt. Strains credulity doesn't it?<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It becomes increasingly clear that <b>Obomber's only agenda is to get enough money to run in 2012</b> , and for that he needs to kowtow to those who would never even consider speaking with, let alone supporting, someone who is an ACTIVIST. Remember: he needs to raise $1.6 million per DAY to get the necessary funds. As this all rages, he with the Chamber of Commerce and <a href="http://twilightwhisper.com/gossip/Harper-Obama-announce-new-vision-for-border-4671780.html" title="">making deals with Canada</a> to have 30 corporations RUNNING North America. The North American Union has slipped in under the radar while eyes were diverted. The militarization of Canada is nearly complete, just a few details to iron out. This took far higher priority than any human rights attention on either of their parts.<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Barry thinks no one in Egypt with power, clout and MONEY is backing The Movement. I think that Dream TV interview with Wael indicated something far different. I think we will see resources being mobilized to help the new leadership and America be DAMNED. The Regime has a <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xgxq5v_moubayed-says-egypt-bond-sale-will-attract-local-banks_news" title="">new call for a bond issue </a> that is slipping in under the wire -- they made a tender on Monday to keep themselves "solvent" as the elite raids the treasury before leaving. Fortunately, the real leaders of The Movement are figuring out what to do as I type. I've posted their preliminary demands to freeze these assets from officials and slap travel bans on them so that they can't flee with funds. I think banks who help these criminals will be held liable, too. Mubarak, alone, has enough money (not counting his gold) to bail out the entire Egyptian debt !! What will Barak do when the protestor/citizens get what is "RIGHTFULLY theirs?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As Allen J. Roland said: This is not a bright, shining moment for Barak ". <a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=192131157472179#%21/album.php?aid=56246&id=199691716707528" title="">Anyone who supports torturers</a> should have been highly suspect anyway ....<br />
<br />
There is the call to WAKE UP from Egyptian women who know "the score" .. will Barry hear them and their children?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<span class="wwscontentsmall"><strong class="fn"><a class="url" href="http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2011/02/10/america%E2%80%99s-strategic-repression-of-the-arab-awakening/">America's Strategic Repression of the Arab Awakening Dandelion Salad</a></strong></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="wwscontentsmall"><strong class="fn"> </strong></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="wwscontentsmall"><strong class="fn"> </strong></span></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"
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The Competitive Council is probably celebrating and Obomber went to the Chamber of Commerce.</span></b></h1><h1><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
Corporatocacy is carrying the day.</span></b></h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_eJ5l4VAZnNw/TVG1420hGjI/AAAAAAAACJQ/BKEbSEH4t7U/s1600/phone01.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_eJ5l4VAZnNw/TVG1420hGjI/AAAAAAAACJQ/BKEbSEH4t7U/s320/phone01.png" width="320" /></a></div><h1><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
GET ON THE PHONES !!</span></b></h1><h1><b>Harper signs new security perimeter deal without consulting Canadians or Parliament</b></h1><div style="text-align: justify;">Late Friday afternoon, Prime Minster Stephen Harper announced he had unilaterally signed a deal with the United States government that some pundits have said is larger in scope than NAFTA.</div><div></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The security perimeter deal, which Harper touted as being needed to further ease trade restrictions between the two countries, states that Canadian and U.S. governments will work “together within, at, and away from the borders of our two countries” to toughen security and promote trade. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In his comments following the announcement, Prime Minister Harper said the border plan is intended to “keep out terrorists and criminals,” “simplify regulations that hinder trade,” create “consistent inspection measures,” and to have “better management of our border” but not eliminate it.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Council of Canadians has spoken out against this deal, which was reportedly negotiated in secret for six months with involvement from business groups, but not Parliament or public interest groups. While concrete details about the deal have been sparse, many concerns have already been raised about the implications of sharing security information with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the loss of sovereignty and trade-offs made to come to this agreement, and the degree to which any of the common measures being discussed will address the so-called “thickening” of the border.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We've gone down this road before – it was called the Security and Prosperity Partnership – and North Americans rejected it," said Stuart Trew, Trade Justice Campaigner with the Council of Canadians. "The Harper government must disclose what terms it is negotiating with the Americans and open it to public and parliamentary scrutiny."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><h4 style="text-align: justify;"><b>Take action!</b></h4>Contact Prime Minister Stephen Harper today and tell him he shouldn’t sign away Canada’s sovereignty by making backroom deals without public debate or scrutiny. The security perimeter deal was signed by Prime Minster Harper without permission from the Canadian public and without approval from Parliament even though it could result in major changes to how our borders are monitored, unfair immigration policies, and the sharing of Canadians’ personal information with U.S. Homeland Security.<br />
Go <a href="http://council-of-canadians.c.topica.com/maaoy3aab2LFZaCnuhceaeQy7T/" target="_blank"><u>here</u></a> to send your message to Prime Minister Harper today. <b><br />
Here’s more about what’s new at the Council of Canadians: </b><br />
<ul><li><a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&view=bsp&ver=ohhl4rw8mbn4#12e06fc33e638215_greatlakes">Nuclear Safety Commission approves shipment of radioactive materials through the Great Lakes</a></li>
<li><a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&view=bsp&ver=ohhl4rw8mbn4#12e06fc33e638215_membership">Add your voice for social justice! Renew your Council of Canadians membership today</a></li>
<li><a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&view=bsp&ver=ohhl4rw8mbn4#12e06fc33e638215_CETA">Council speaks out against CETA</a></li>
<li><a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&view=bsp&ver=ohhl4rw8mbn4#12e06fc33e638215_win">Win! Kalahari Bushmen’s right to water recognized by court</a></li>
<li><a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&view=bsp&ver=ohhl4rw8mbn4#12e06fc33e638215_WSF">Council Vice-Chair attends World Social Forum</a></li>
<li><a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&view=bsp&ver=ohhl4rw8mbn4#12e06fc33e638215_election">Buzz about a Spring election grows louder</a></li>
<li><a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&view=bsp&ver=ohhl4rw8mbn4#12e06fc33e638215_join">Join the Council of Canadians</a></li>
</ul></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"
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