Bob Chapman - International Forecast Weekly | Fed Threats To The Dollar, Real Threats To Your Life
Posted: November 21 2009
October CPI rose 0.3%, up mom from up 0.2%, as inflation moves up again.
October housing starts were 529,000, building permits at 552,000. Starts fell 10.6% to the lowest level in six months.
Aetna will cut another 1,250 jobs.
Mortgage applications fell last week, with demand for home purchase loans dropping to a 12-year low even as interest rates fell to their lowest level in six months. Mortgage apps, for purchase and refi loans fell 2.5%.
The recently extended $8,000 first-time buyer includes those who didn’t own a home in the last three years and added $6,500 for homeowners buying a new residence. They increased income limits as well.
There is now no question that the Fed is in the process of massively devaluing the dollar, which is an insidious and subtle way for them to tax and confiscate your dollar-based wealth. This will lead to a much higher cost of living and diminish purchasing power as foreign imported goods rise in cost. That means higher inflation. That of course leaves the idiots like Gartman and Prechter wrong yet again. This ongoing deliberate dollar devaluation makes bonds, CDs and money market investments sure losers. That is why they have to be sold and switched into gold and silver related assets.
The new GCC unified currency may not be pegged to the dollar, but to a basket of currencies said Al-Watan quoting the finance and foreign ministers of Kuwait.
It turns out the Chinese are kind of curious about how President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform plans would impact America’s huge fiscal deficit. Government officials are using his Asian trip as an opportunity to ask the White House questions.
FULL ARTICLE>>>>>
OUR PLANET'S PROTECTIVE MAGNETOSPHERE UPDATE:
http://www2.nict.go.jp/y/y223/simulation/realtime/index.html
MOON UPDATE
CURRENT MOON PHASE
WHAT'S GOING ON IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM?
http://www-mgcm.arc.nasa.gov/MarsToday/marstotal.gif
LINKS:
(Keeping them in "safekeeping" via emailed News Updates - in case my blogs get bombed out of the water AGAIN!)
Real-time Magnetosphere Simulation
HAARP Fluxgate Magnetometer
SpaceWeather.com
SolarCycle24.com
National Association of Radio-Distress Signalling and Infocommunications
Emergency and Disaster Information Services (EDIS)
Budapest Hungary
Note:: If you follow this link to the main global map - scroll down to find listing of various earthquakes, volcanoes, etc.
- Link: SolarCyle24.com
- Mars Today
- USGS Latest Earthquakes 2+ US and 4.5+ in (some) of the world - last 7 days
- USGS Latest Earthquakes 1+ in the US - last 7 days
- European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre
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- Live webcams - Alaskan volcanoes
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List of Volcanoes of Antarctica and South Sandwich Islands
African Desert Rift Confirmed as New Ocean in the Making - Geologists Show that Seafloor Dynamics Are at Work in Splitting African Continent
Space.com | June 10, 2009 - Incoming space rocks now classified by military WHY?
Maps of Nuclear Power Reactors
The Living Moon
Sea Ice Index
| Controversial Experimental Weather Modification Bill in US Congress - by Rosalind Peterson - 2006-05-11 | |
| The bill would allow experimental weather modification by artificial methods and implement a national weather modification policy. |
EARTHQUAKE NEWS
Latest Earthquakes Magnitude 2.5 or Greater in the United States and Adjacent Areas and Magnitude 4.5 or Greater in the Rest of the World
Update time = Mon Nov 23 13:36:39 UTC 2009
| | MAG | UTC DATE-TIME y/m/d h:m:s | LAT deg | LON deg | DEPTH km | Region |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MAP | 2.8 | 2009/11/23 12:36:03 | 64.133 | -149.440 | 0.0 | CENTRAL ALASKA |
| MAP | 3.0 | 2009/11/23 09:24:45 | 19.409 | -65.678 | 11.0 | PUERTO RICO REGION |
| MAP | 3.4 | 2009/11/23 08:46:47 | 19.296 | -67.973 | 2.2 | DOMINICAN REPUBLIC REGION |
| MAP | 4.6 | 2009/11/23 07:25:23 | 31.049 | 103.469 | 10.0 | EASTERN SICHUAN, CHINA |
| MAP | 2.7 | 2009/11/23 06:39:26 | 36.651 | -121.269 | 5.1 | CENTRAL CALIFORNIA |
| MAP | 5.2 | 2009/11/23 06:08:41 | 18.189 | -105.634 | 40.8 | OFF THE COAST OF JALISCO, MEXICO |
| MAP | 2.6 | 2009/11/23 05:47:12 | 35.493 | -97.230 | 5.0 | OKLAHOMA |
| MAP | 4.9 | 2009/11/23 04:59:59 | 18.650 | 145.505 | 576.8 | PAGAN REGION, NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS |
| MAP | 4.7 | 2009/11/23 02:27:11 | 39.618 | 15.348 | 296.0 | SOUTHERN ITALY |
| MAP | 4.6 | 2009/11/23 01:56:55 | 17.951 | -101.310 | 63.5 | GUERRERO, MEXICO |
CLIMATE CHANGE NEWS
National Severe Weather Map
Surface Temperature Forecast Map
CLIMATE CHANGE AS AN EXCUSE FOR 'GLOBAL GOVERNANCE'
YouTube video: Retired climatologist Dr. Tim Ball joins us to discuss the significance of the recently leaked emails and documents from the Climate Research Unit
Retired climatologist Dr. Tim Ball joins us to discuss the significance of the recently leaked emails and documents from the Climate Research Unit at East Anglia University which expose deceit, duplicity and collusion between climate researchers to maintain the fraud of the manmade global warming theory. These emails reveal stunning behind-the-scenes details about how this fraud has been developed and perpetuated, and Dr. Ball shares his insights on what they show.
For more information on this incident, please see the following articles from The Corbett Report and other sources:
Hacker leaks thousands of emails showing conspiracy to "hide" the real data on climate change
http://www.corbettreport.com/articles...
The Death Blow to Climate Science
http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/...
Collusion, Corruption, Manipulation and Obstruction
http://noconsensus.wordpress.com/2009...
Mike's Nature Trick
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/11/20...
For more information on the Climate Research Unit and their unwillingness to share data with other researchers, please see The Corbett Report's earlier interview with Dr. Ball:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8CVh2...
Global Warming: A Convenient Lie- by Andrew Gavin Marshall - 2007-03-15Claude Allegre, who was among the first scientists to warn people of the dangers of global warming 20 years ago, now believes that "most of the warming comes of natural phenomena”.
HEADLINE ON MY CAVE NEWS BLOG
Under H.R. 2454 Cap and Trade Bill, homeowners need upgrades and a license to sell a houseThis is a long excerpt, but you should read the entire post by Frank Carrio at http://www.nachi.org/forum/f14/cap-and-trade-license-required-your-home-44750/
The Congressional Budget Office (supposedly non-partisan) estimates that in just a few years the average cost to every family of four will be $6,800 per year.
Note: Joyce Riley was a Flight Nurse & Cardiovascular Heart Transplant Nurse - her radio program is always good and very informative. Check out archives if you can't listen when she comes on a 7am:POWER HOUR ARCHIVE AT GENESIS COMMUNICATION
Joyce Riley's THE POWER HOUR NEWS | Monday November 23, 2009
Blue Springs, MO Billboard Warns: “Prepare For War” Against Government -- This billboard replaces one that warned that the socialist “Obama-Nation” is “coming for you.” It’s unclear who the owner of the billboard is, but the first one was the work of a “Missouri businessman.” (HT: Oliver Willis) This new billboard off of Interstate 70 in Missouri provides a short “citizens guide to REVOLUTION of a corrupt government” and issues a call to “PREPARE FOR WAR.”
Fired Up! Missouri Website points out that the Lafayette County Republican Central Committee is highlighting a new billboard in the state with steps for a “citizens guide to revolution of a corrupt government“: This billboard replaces one that warned that the socialist “Obama-Nation” is “coming for you.” It’s unclear who the owner of the billboard is, but the first one was the work of a “Missouri businessman.” (HT: Oliver Willis)
Columbian military on maximum alert -- COLOMBIA warned overnight that its forces were on "maximum alert'' and were prepared to defend against any attack, amid rising tensions with neighbouring Venezuela.
Small radiation leak detected at Three Mile island -- A small amount of radiation has been detected in a reactor building at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant. Officials say about 150 employees were sent home after the radiation was detected Saturday afternoon, but that there is no public health risk.
Related Articles:
* Three Mile Island: Clean, safe, reliable energy for the future (propaganda site)
* Exelon's press release -- Employees Sent Home After Small Amount of Contamination Found Inside Three Mile Island Reactor Building.
* Three Mile Island Alert website-a history & other info on the infamous nuclear reactor
Want to buy a bridge? No Joke, 1767 toll bridge for sale in England -- Swinford Toll Bridge (STB), a beautiful functioning private toll bridge dating back to 1767 goes on sale at auction in London England December 6. A major London auction house Allsop is handling the sale.
My Serrapeptase Adventure -- Newly updated Website of our friend Mike Tawse in the UK. Don't forget to visit his Thought For The Day and The Disability Maze book: A Common Sense Approach To Disability
Antidepressant drugs put people into "drug induced states" -- Contrary to the impression promoted by the psychiatric and drug industries, psychiatric drugs do not work by correcting a chemical imbalance in the brain, Joanna Moncrieff of University College London wrote recently in an opinion piece for the BBC. Instead, such drugs merely put people into "drug-induced states" that make it harder for them to experience the symptoms of their illness.
Only one bank failed last week -- This brings the total to 124 failed banks this year!
What's in your H1N1 vaccine? -- Chris Shaw isn’t an easily dismissed vaccine conspiracy theorist. He is a leading expert on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease) and Parkinson’s disease. While investigating unusually high rates of ALS and other neurological disorders among veterans who have Gulf War syndrome, he found evidence that the cause may have been aluminum salt, an ingredient in the cocktail of vaccines given to soldiers before deployment. Read More...
H1N1 swine flu mutation detected in Norway - is this the virulent Ukraine virus spreading? -- Is the mutant Ukraine H1N1 swine flu strain showing up in dead and dying patients in Norway? That is what some recent tests appear to indicate.
D225G Swine flu mutation - Same receptor as 1918 Spanish flu pandemic found in Ukraine virus -- According to analysis of genetic testing done by the World Health Organization, the Ukraine flu virus is an H1N1 mutation that is similar to the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic.
Clusters of resistant H1N1 in UK, US -- Health officials in Wales today announced the identification of a cluster of patients in a Cardiff hospital who are infected with oseltamivir-resistant pandemic H1N1 influenza.
WAVE Website - World Association for Vaccine Education -- The World Association for Vaccine Education (WAVE) is globally focused, non-profit, educational institution advocating reformation of the mass vaccination systems. To this effect, WAVE provides an avenue for a public exchange of non-medical vaccine information, ideas and a continuously updated database of documents that concern vaccine risk and uselessness. It’s intent is to redress the balance of information available to parents on vaccination issues, acknowledge people who experience vaccine reactions, and adamantly advocate and maintain freedom of choice.
Call your Senator, demand debate on HR 3590 -- The Obamacare bill, HR 3590, is now in the Senate and faces a “cloture” on the “motion to proceed” today. Call your representative and tell him or her to vote against “cloture” (a motion to bring debate to an end). You can call your Senators toll-free at 1-877-762-8762. The alternate, non toll-free, number is 202-224-3121.
Hackers leak emails, stoke climate debate -- Computer hackers have broken into a server at a well-respected climate change research center in Britain and posted hundreds of private e-mails and documents online - stoking debate over whether some scientists have overstated the case for man-made climate change.
Cap & Trade (HR2454)bill would require a license to sell your house! -- This must be stopped!!!
Iraq war veteran on a mental health mission -- "We are an advocacy group that addresses soldiers' mistreatment and lack of treatment in the Army," Luther explains.
Canada: The killer H1N1 vaccine -- A new development in the H1N1 Vaccine Saga is unfolding in Canada. Whereas health officials are pushing for an acceleration of the vaccination program, there is evidence of so-called "unusual adverse reactions" including three recently recorded deaths directly resulting from the vaccine.
Researcher's labor of love leads to MS breakthrough! -- New way of thinking about debilitating disease has yielded stunning new treatments – but MS societies urge sufferers to be cautious before experimenting. Read about this the experimental surgery...
Wall Street profits by reducing mortgages -- Investment funds are buying billions of dollars’ worth of home loans, discounted from the loans’ original value. Then, in what might seem an act of charity, the funds are helping homeowners by reducing the size of the loans. Then the mortgages are being refinanced through lenders that work with government agencies like the Federal Housing Administration. This enables the funds to pocket sizable profits by reselling new, government-insured loans to other federal agencies, which then bundle the mortgages into securities for sale to investors.
Is America finally standing up to Wall Street? -- Some of Goldman Sach's biggest shareholders are demanding that executive compensation be reduced. As the Wall Street Journal notes: Their complaints in private conversations with the company and at analyst meetings show how anger over its big-money culture is spilling into the ranks of investors who typically shy away from debates over Wall Street pay.
Valero Energy closing refinery in Delaware -- 550 jobs lost!
Early data suggests suicides are rising -- Early signs suggest the number of suicides in the U.S. crept up during the worst recession in decades, according to a Wall Street Journal survey of states that account for about 40% of the U.S. population.
Intel: Chips in brains will control computers by 2020 -- Brain waves will replace keyboard and mouse, dial phones and change TV channels.
Common plastics chemicals linked to ADHD -- Are phthalates really safe for children? The current findings do not prove that phthalate exposure caused ADHD symptoms. However, the initial findings provide a rationale for further research on this association.
Polk County Iowa coroner -- Iowa has officially recorded 21 H1N1 deaths, including seven in Polk County alone. But the county's medical examiner said he has performed autopsies on some residents who were never diagnosed with H1N1, but actually had it. "In the autopsy, what we're seeing is very heavy, wet hemorrhagic lungs, lungs with a lot of blood in them," said Dr. Gregory Schmunk.
West Virginia school district upheld on mandatory vaccinations -- A federal district judge has ruled for a West Virginina school district and its officials in a case in which a parent sought to exempt her daughter from mandatory vaccinations for medical and religious reasons.
Desiree Jenning's road to recovery from vaccine damage with the help of alternative medicine -- Just days after getting the seasonal flu shot, her health spiraled out of control. She had difficulties walking, talking and suffered several seizures a day. Treatments included, among other things, time in a hyperbaric chamber and dozens of IV treatments containing synthetic amino acids and nutrients. Dr. Buttar believes with rest and continued treatment, Desiree will fully recover.
Ft. Hood-winked: Newest false-flag shooting story riddled with holes
The War on Soy: Why the "miracle food" may be a health risk & environmental nightmare -- Soy's glory days may be coming to an end. New research is questioning its health benefits and even pointing out some potential risks. Although definitive evidence may be many years down the road, the American Heart Association has quietly withdrawn its support. And some groups are waging an all-out war, warning that soy can lead to certain kinds of cancers, lowered testosterone levels, and early-onset puberty in girls.
UK: rain like this happens once every 1000 years -- The Environment Agency said that the flooding across the region was so severe that such an event was likely to happen only once in 1,000 years.
House of straw & hemp withstands 1000 degree fire test -- A house made of straw and hemp panels passed a fire resistance test where it was exposed to temperatures over 1,000°C, a university said.
Medibots, the world's smallest surgeons -- This is a da Vinci robot. It has allowed a surgeon, sitting at a control desk, to remove the patient's prostate gland in a manner that has several advantages over conventional methods.
Counterinsurgency's future is in America -- Giving various reasons that would justify martial law (for example, "the refusal of the population to pay or unusual difficulty to collect rent, taxes, or loan payments"), the plans call for the suspension of the Constitution; the permanent confiscation of all firearms (while telling the gun owners that the confiscation is temporary); and the rounding up of large numbers of the "indigenous population" in detention camps.
NewYorkTimes.com | Apology Opens Wounds of British Migrant Program - Abusive orphanages in western Australia
British children working at a farm near Parramatta, Australia, in 1953. One British migrant recalled, “We were told it was the land of milk and honey.”
Published: November 22, 2009
LONDON — Laurie Humphreys, at least, had the advantage of being a teenager — if anything about being uprooted from family and homeland in 1940s Britain and sent 12,000 miles to brutal and often sexually abusive orphanages in western Australia could be called advantageous.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd of Australia, left, during a ceremony last week to apologize for the program.
Mr. Humphreys was 14, old enough to understand at least some of what was happening to him.
Others among the boys and girls known in Australia as the “lost innocents” were as young as 3, children abandoned by single mothers or impoverished families, placed into institutional care in Britain, then transported across the world, often without parental consent, with certificates bearing wrong names and birth dates, and falsely noting that they had no living parents or siblings. FULL ARTICLE>>>>
NEWS ABOUT OUR NATION'S BIGGEST BUSINESS: WAR
USA IS NO LONGER AN INDUSTRIALIZED POWER - WAR IS ITS SPECIALTY!
Afghanistan Contractors Outnumber Troops Despite Surge in U.S. Deployments, More Civilians Are Posted in War Zone
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=16230
November 22, 2009
Even as U.S. troops surge to new highs in Afghanistan they are outnumbered by military contractors working alongside them, according to a Defense Department census due to be distributed to Congress -- illustrating how hard it is for the U.S. to wean itself from the large numbers of war-zone contractors that proved controversial in Iraq.
The number of military contractors in Afghanistan rose to almost 74,000 by June 30, far outnumbering the roughly 58,000 U.S. soldiers on the ground at that point. As the military force in Afghanistan grows further, to a planned 68,000 by the end of the year, the Defense Department expects the ranks of contractors to increase more.
The ranks of military contractors in Afghanistan have been growing along with the surge in troops. Above, contractor barracks at the Kandahar airfield.
The military requires contractors for essential functions ranging from supplying food and laundry services to guarding convoys and even military bases -- functions that were once performed by military personnel but have been outsourced so a slimmed-down military can focus more on battle-related tasks.The Obama administration has sought to reduce its reliance on military contractors, worried that the Pentagon was ceding too much power to outside companies, failing to rein in costs and not achieving desired results.
President Obama has repeatedly called defense contractors to task since taking office. "In Iraq, too much money has been paid out for services that were never performed, buildings that were never completed, companies that skimmed off the top," he said during a March speech.
In April, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced plans to hire 30,000 civilian officials during to cut the percentage of contractors in the Pentagon's own work force, and last month he told an audience of soldiers that contractor use overseas needed better controls.
The Pentagon's "Manhunting Agency" - by Tom Burghardt
2009-11-22 - When CIA Director Leon Panetta revealed that for eight years the Agency ran a secret program to hunt down and kill top leaders of the Afghan-Arab database of disposable Western intelligence assets known as al-Qaeda, it set off a political firestorm.
While congressional Democrats and Republicans diverted the public's attention with claims and counterclaims whether or not the Company had "misled" Congress by not disclosing the program's existence, investigative journalist Seymour Hersh reported months earlier that former Vice President Richard Cheney had stood up an "executive assassination ring."
According to Hersh, that fully-operational program was run, not by the CIA, but by the Pentagon's secretive Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), a subunit attached to United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM). During a "Great Conversations" event last March at the University of Minnesota, Hersh told the audience:"Congress has no oversight of it. It’s an executive assassination ring essentially, and it’s been going on and on and on. Just today in the Times there was a story that its leaders, a three star admiral named [William H.] McRaven, ordered a stop to it because there were so many collateral deaths.Old news right? Well, not entirely. ........ FULL ARTICLE>>>>
"Under President Bush’s authority, they've been going into countries, not talking to the ambassador or the CIA station chief, and finding people on a list and executing them and leaving. That's been going on, in the name of all of us." (Eric Black, "Investigative reporter Seymour Hersh describes 'executive assassination ring'," MinnPost.com, March 11, 2009)
Hostility between British and American military leaders revealed --The deep hostility of Britain’s senior military commanders in Iraq towards their American allies has been revealed in classified Government documents leaked to the Daily Telegraph. 22 Nov 2009 In the papers, the British chief of staff in Iraq, Colonel J.K.Tanner, described his US military counterparts as "a group of Martians" [Good one! Guess who was the Top Martian --aka Commander in Thief --in 2003?] for whom "dialogue is alien," saying: "Despite our so-called 'special relationship,' I reckon we were treated no differently to the Portuguese." Col Tanner’s boss, the top British commander in the country, Major General Andrew Stewart, told how he spent "a significant amount of my time" "evading" and "refusing" orders from his US superiors.Iraq report: Secret papers reveal blunders and concealment --The "appalling" errors that contributed to Britain's failure in Iraq are disclosed in the most detailed and damning set of leaks to emerge on the conflict. 21 Nov 2009 On the eve of the Chilcot inquiry into Britain’s involvement in the 2003 invasion and its aftermath, The Sunday Telegraph has obtained hundreds of pages of secret Government reports on "lessons learnt" which shed new light on "significant shortcomings" at all levels. They include full transcripts of extraordinarily frank classified interviews in which British Army commanders vent their frustration and anger with ministers and Whitehall officials.
The Iraq war files 22 Nov 2009 The reports disclose that: Tony Blair, the former prime minister, misled MPs and the public throughout 2002 when he claimed that Britain’s objective was "disarmament, not regime change" and that there had been no planning for military action. In fact, British military planning for a full invasion and regime change began in February 2002.
US 'helps build anti-Taliban militias' in Afghanistan 22 Nov 2009 The United States has begun helping a number of anti-Taliban militias [death squads] in several parts of Afghanistan in hopes for a large-scale tribal rebellion against the radical Islamic movement, The New York Times reported late Saturday. The newspaper said US and Afghan officials were planning to spur the growth of similar armed groups across the Taliban heartland in the southern and eastern parts of the country. The officials say they are hoping the plan, called the Community Defense Initiative, will bring together thousands of gunmen to protect their neighborhoods from Taliban 'insurgents,' the report said. ['Community Defense Initiative.' Gee, it even *sounds* like something straight out of Nazi Germany or Joe Lieberman's Homeland Security Committee. --LRP]
Tories work to undermine diplomat who blew whistle on torture 20 Nov 2009 The Harper government is training its guns on a diplomat whistleblower who says Canada was complicit in the torture of captured Afghan prisoners, trying to undermine Richard Colvin's credibility as pressure builds to hold a public inquiry into the matter. "There are incredible holes in the story that have to be examined," Defence Minister Peter MacKay told Parliament Thursday, even as he rejected opposition calls for a probe into Mr. Colvin's serious charges that Canada's soldiers handed over Afghan prisoners with the knowledge they'd likely be tortured by local interrogators. [The 'incredible holes that have to be examined' are those in Harper's head.]
Torture case ruling backed 20 Nov 2009 Two judges reiterated yesterday that information relating to the alleged torture of a British citizen should be published. The High Court ruled last month, in its fifth judgment on the case, that details relating to the interrogation of Binyam Mohamed in Pakistan in 2002 should be released. Passages in the judgment were cut after the judges heard argument on behalf of David Miliband, the foreign secretary, that disclosing the information could damage national security and intelligence-sharing with the US. In the High Court ruling yesterday, the judges said the passages should be restored because they were "central to an understanding of our judgment". The Foreign Office said it was appealing.
Army faces inquiry over 'Battle of Danny Boy' torture claims --Evidence indicating torture and mutilation allegedly includes close-range bullet wounds, the removal of eyes and stab wounds, human rights lawyers have claimed. 21 Nov 2009 Claims that British soldiers tortured and murdered up to 20 prisoners after a battle with Iraqi 'insurgents' are to be scrutinised at a public inquiry. Concern that the Army covered up the most serious accusation of war crimes that it has faced has prompted Bob Ainsworth, the Defence Secretary, to order the independent inquiry. Mr Ainsworth is due to tell MPs next week that the inquiry will centre on an incident known as the Battle of Danny Boy. It took place in May 2004 and involved soldiers from the Argyll and Southern Highlanders and the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment... Iraqi families claim that some of those killed had been captured alive before being tortured and murdered by troops at Camp Abu Naji, a British base. Evidence indicating torture and mutilation allegedly includes close-range bullet wounds, the removal of eyes and stab wounds, human rights lawyers have claimed.
Britain knew CIA tortured detainee --Mr Mohamed alleges that his torture included the cutting of his genitals with a razor blade. 20 Nov 2009 Britain knew that American agents were using barbaric torture techniques on terror suspects, including British resident Binyam Mohamed, it emerged yesterday. Secret reports sent between MI5 and the CIA in 2002 reveal that the American security services were using torture practices which included waterboarding, facial slaps and stress positions. The extent of Britain's knowledge was made clear in the latest High Court judgment in the case of Binyam Mohamed, who claims Britain actively colluded in his torture while he was being unlawfully held by the Americans in Morocco seven years ago. Mr Mohamed alleges that his torture included the cutting of his genitals with a razor blade.
Inquiry into 'rape and torture' by UK troops as Iraqis' lawyer claims 32 cases are tip of the iceberg 16 Nov 2009 Fresh claims that British soldiers abused Iraqi prisoners are to be investigated by the Ministry of Defence. They include allegations of rape and torture, some by female British soldiers. But hundreds more alleged cases could remain buried for ever, the lawyer representing the Iraqi complainants said yesterday. It came as the U.S. defence secretary-blocked the publication of pictures allegedly showing abuse by American soldiers. One Iraqi complainant against British soldiers claims they based the abuse they allegedly subjected him to on photographs taken at the notorious U.S. detention centre Abu Ghraib.
U.S. soldier found guilty of abusing subordinates in Iraq 21 Nov 2009 A U.S. military court demoted and jailed a soldier for mistreating troops in Iraq, behavior discovered during the investigation of another soldier's suicide. Sgt. Jarrett Taylor of Edmond, Oklahoma, was convicted at a special court martial at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, that ended on Friday, the military said. He was found guilty of making false official statements and cruelty and maltreatment of subordinates. The soldier was reduced to the rank of private, sentenced to 180 days in confinement and ordered to forfeit $933 in pay for the next six months, the military said.
Officials: 4 dead in attacks around Iraq 22 Nov 2009 Iraqi security officials say four people have been killed in attacks in Baghdad and the northern city of Mosul. They say two police officers were killed late Saturday when a bomb attached to their car exploded. Also, a member of a U.S.-backed Sunni militia that revolted against al-Qaida was shot dead Sunday by unidentified gunmen.
US military loses another GI in Iraq 22 Nov 2009 Another US soldier has been killed in Iraq. "A Multi-National Division South soldier was killed in action," according to a US Army statement issued on Sunday. The latest casualty brings the death toll for US troops in Iraq to nine for the month of November and 145 so far this year.
MoD spent £149m on tanks unfit for service 23 Nov 2009 The Ministry of Defence has been criticised for spending £149 million on an "urgent" upgrade to 900 tanks that can still only be used for training. The armoured vehicles will be used in Canada and Britain because they offer insufficient protection against mines in Afghanistan. A defence source described the procurement, at a time when equipment shortages for troops have caused public anger, as a waste of money.
Israeli jets attack Gaza, 7 Palestinians injured 22 Nov 2009 Israeli jets have carried out air strikes against targets in the Gaza Strip, injuring seven Palestinians. On Sunday, Palestinian medical workers and witnesses said other areas targeted by Israeli planes included a caravan in the northern Gaza Strip and smuggling tunnels in the south under the border with Egypt, the New York Times reported.
Barak: We must crush IDF refusal with an iron fist 21 Nov 2009 Defense Minister Ehud Barak reiterated on Saturday his pledge to crack down on Israel Defense Forces soldiers who refuse to carry out orders, saying Israel should not hesitate to act forcefully to crush the phenomenon. "A country that wishes to live must put an end to refusal by the right and left with an iron fist," said Barak in a closed meeting.
Iran to test new air defense system 22 Nov 2009 Iran is to test a new anti-aircraft defense system during a five-day aerial maneuver, the Iranian defense minister has said. The large-scale maneuver, which was launched on Sunday, is mainly aimed at developing the country's aerial defenses against any potential attack on the country's nuclear plants. "The Defense Ministry's new anti-aircraft defense system will be tested in the Aseman-e-Velayat 2 maneuver," Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said on Sunday.
Oil tops $78 amid fresh Iran tensions 22 Nov 2009 Oil prices rose above $78 a barrel on Monday as heightened tension between Iran and Western nations raised speculation of a potential 'supply risk,' encouraging investors to push prices higher.
Revealed: 50 oil tankers loitering off British coast as they lie in wait for fuel price hikes --A significant number are 'oil sharks' - tankers that have been cynically told to wait for crude prices to be driven up before they unload their cargo. 20 Nov 2009 More than 50 oil tankers are anchored off Britain - pieces in a game in which the only winners are market speculators. The losers are the millions of British motorists paying over the odds for their petrol and diesel. After yesterday's report in the Daily Mail on how several so-called 'oil shark' tankers were moored near the Devon coast, dozens more vessels were revealed to be loitering off-shore.
Trial Is Key Test for Other Cases Involving Terror 23 Nov 2009 ...To ensure that secrets do not leak, Judge Kaplan has imposed a protective order on all classified information, which may be reviewed by the defense lawyers only in a special "secure area," a room whose location has not been disclosed. The defense lawyers, who had to obtain security clearance, cannot disclose the information to Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani without permission of the court or the government. Any motions they write based on the material must be prepared in the special room, and nothing may be filed publicly until it is reviewed by the government.
Four charged with terror-related offences 22 Nov 2009 Police charged four men with terrorism-related offences on Sunday after an operation by counter-terrorism officers in northwest England earlier this month. Israr Hussain Malik was charged with intending to commit acts of terrorism. Three others -- Munir Ahmed Farooqi, Haris Farooqi, and Matthew Newton -- were charged with intending to help others commit acts of terrorism.
Italy Police Arrest Two Mumbai Terror Suspects 21 Nov 2009 Two Pakistanis suspected of being involved in the Mumbai terror attacks have been arrested in Italy. The two men, who are father and son, were arrested in an early morning raid in the northern city of Brescia. They are believed to have provided logistical support for the terror attacks in November last year which left 170 people dead.
Fort Hood suspect paralyzed from chest down, lawyer says --He has been receiving letters and cards, which the government has been copying before delivering. 23 Nov 2009 Maj. Nidal M. Hasan, the Army psychiatrist charged with killing 13 people at Fort Hood, Tex., is paralyzed from the chest down and doctors believe his paralysis will be permanent, Hasan's civilian lawyer [John P. Galligan] said Sunday. During a closed-door hearing in Hasan's hospital room on Saturday that lasted about an hour, a magistrate ruled that Hasan be confined [Brooke Army Medical Center] until his military trial, Galligan said. He has been receiving letters and cards, which the government has been copying before delivering, Galligan said. Now under pre-trial confinement, Hasan faces greater restrictions on visitors and the military can transfer him to another hospital or jail, he said.
Army refuses to identify Hasan prosecutors, chases away journalists --Judicial order further restricts Hasan 21 Nov 2009 In a court hearing from a San Antonio military hospital room Saturday, the Army obtained a judicial order that placed more restrictions on accused Fort Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, and makes it easier for the military to move him from Brooke Army Medical Center pending trial, according to his lead lawyer. But where Hasan might be moved -- or when -- remained a mystery after the hearing, which lasted an hour and a half and was held in BAMC's Intensive Care Unit, where Hasan is recuperating, the lawyer, retired Army Col. John P. Galligan said. Galligan addressed reporters outside the gates of Fort Sam Houston, where BAMC is located, because the Army did not allow the media to attend the hearing and sidestepped a legal challenge from the San Antonio Express-News that sought access for journalists. Post guards chased away journalists who approached Galligan's vehicle after the hearing because half of the car was still within the outer perimeter gate. Additionally, the Army only supplied vague details of the hearing late Friday after getting inquiries from the media. It even refused to identify the prosecutors.
FBI Monitored Hasan's E-mail Exchanges 21 Nov 2009 In the months before the deadly shootings at Fort Hood, Army Maj. Nidal M. Hasan intensified his communications with a Yemeni American cleric and began to discuss surreptitious financial transfers and other steps that could translate his thoughts into action, according to two sources briefed on a collection of secret e-mails between the two... To date, investigators have not unearthed evidence that Hasan sent money to charities with strong or suspected ties to Islamist militant groups. The FBI obtained the e-mails pursuant to court-ordered wiretaps, according to a former intelligence official. After receiving a wiretap order, Internet providers generally set up accounts that allow cloned copies of e-mails to go to the government agency in real time. Stored e-mails also may be provided with a search warrant. In this case, a first batch of Hasan's e-mails was sent by agents in San Diego to the bureau's Washington field office, where a terrorism task force began to assess them in December. But months later, additional messages
emergedwere planted, according to government and congressional sources.'Tell the commanding general to call off all charges or there will be a re-enactment of Fort Hood.' Suspicious note and package found at Fort Benning --Fort Benning: Box of hollow-point bullets and an anonymous note threatening an incident like the one at Fort Hood left at gazebo 21 Nov 2009 A Fort Benning spokesman says Army officials are investigating whether a suspicious note and package found at the west Georgia post is a viable threat. Bob Purtiman says a soldier found the note and package Thursday morning in an outdoor gazebo. The soldier immediately told a supervisor, who called 911.
Note said Fort Hood-style shooting could happen --Witness: Increase in MP patrols on post and Kelley Hill area of Fort Benning on lockdown status for part of Friday. 22 Nov 2009 A box of hollow-point bullets and an anonymous note threatening an incident like the one at Fort Hood, Texas, were discovered Thursday at Fort Benning, Ga., sparking a criminal investigation and greater police presence, a witness told Army Times. According to a witness at the scene, a box of 20 hollow-point shells and a handwritten note were found in the motor pool area between 1st Battalion and 2nd Battalion, 29th Infantry, under the 197th Infantry Training Brigade. "The note said ‘tell the commanding general to call off all charges or there will be a re-enactment of Fort Hood,' " the witness told Army Times. He spoke on condition he wouldn’t be identified. After the discovery, he said, military police arrived with dogs, cordoned off a 20-foot perimeter around the box and began dusting for fingerprints and questioning people.
UK investigates spread of drug resistant swine flu 20 Nov 2009 British health officials are investigating the likely person-to-person spread of a drug-resistant strain of swine flu, the Health Protection Agency said on Friday. There have been five confirmed cases in Wales of patients infected with H1N1 resistant to oseltamivir -- the generic name of Roche AG and Gilead Sciences Inc's antiviral drug Tamiflu, the agency said.
WHO investigating Norway swine flu mutations 20 Nov 2009 The World Health Organization said Friday it is investigating samples of variant swine flu linked to two deaths and one severe case in Norway, but that so far the significance of the mutation is unclear. Norway's Institute of Public Health announced Friday that the mutation "could possibly...cause more severe disease" because it infects tissue deeper in the airway than usual. The mutation was found in three of 70 analyzed swine flu cases, said Geir Stene-Larsen, the institute's director.
Radiation leak at Three Mile Island --Officials are checking employees who had been working in the building for possible unusual radiation exposure. 22 Nov 2009 Radiation has been detected in a reactor building at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in central Pennsylvania. About 150 employees were sent home after the radiation was detected Saturday afternoon. Exelon Nuclear spokeswoman Beth Archer says 'investigators' are searching for the cause.
Healthcare bill passes first U.S. Senate test 21 Nov 2009 A sweeping healthcare overhaul narrowly cleared its first hurdle in the U.S. Senate on Saturday, with Democrats casting 60 party-line votes to open debate on the biggest healthcare changes in decades. In the first Senate test for President Barack Obama's top domestic priority, Democrats unanimously backed a procedural motion to open debate over the opposition of 39 Republicans.
East Antarctic ice sheet may be losing mass 22 Nov 2009 The East Antarctic ice sheet has been losing mass for the last three years, according to an analysis of data from a gravity-measuring satellite mission. The scientists involved say they are "surprised" by the finding, because the giant East Antarctic sheet, unlike the west, has been thought to be stable. The US-based team reports its findings in the journal Nature Geoscience.
Previous lead stories: Canadian diplomat alleges troops in Afghanistan were complicit in torture --Senior diplomat formerly stationed in Kabul claims troops 'handed over for severe torture a lot of innocent people' 20 Nov 2009 The Canadian government was fending off calls for a public inquiry on torture today after allegations from one of its senior diplomats that Canada was complicit in the torture of Afghan detainees. Richard Colvin, who was second in command at Canada's Kabul embassy in 2006 and 2007, said that Afghans swept up in security sweeps by Canadian troops during that time were routinely handed over to the Afghan intelligence services. "According to our information, the likelihood is that all the Afghans we handed over were tortured," Colvin told Canada's parliament. "For interrogators in Kandahar, it was standard operating procedure. "In other words, we detained, and handed over for severe torture, a lot of innocent people."
Notes from Bagram prison By James Bays 18 Nov 2009 In the past, military officials have refused to go on the record about the number of prisoners at the jail. Brigadier General Mark Martin, the acting commander, was more forthcoming. He told us the prison currently houses about 700 people. Of these, "about 30" were non-Afghans, and "about 5" were juveniles... A new command has been set up, to take charge of all detainee operations in Afghanistan, including Bagram. Of course, CJTF-435 is a US operation, not part of ISAF (the NATO force). Many other NATO and ISAF nations are very uneasy about Bagram and what goes on there.
US to drop shooting case against Blackwater guard Friday, 20 Nov 2009 5:35 PM The Justice Department intends to drop manslaughter and weapons charges against one of the Blackwater Worldwidesecurity guardsterrorists involved in a deadly 2007 Baghdad shooting, prosecutors said in court documents Friday. The shooting in busy Nisoor Square left 17 Iraqis dead and inflamed anti-American sentiment abroad. Iraqis have said they're watching closely to see how the U.S. judicial system handles the five men accused of unleashing an unprovoked attack on civilians with machine guns and grenades. A one-paragraph notice filed Friday says only that prosecutors have asked that the case against Nicholas Slatten of Sparta, Tenn., be dropped. The government's detailed request asking the judge to dismiss the case was filed with the court and with the defendant, but was not made public. [Obama is terrified of Blackwater. Did Blackwater threaten to assassinate him? I mean, c'mon. This is nuts, and transcends Obusha's usual Friday night 'bad news dump.' --LRP]
BlacklistedNews.com | Headlines - November 23, 2009
| Source: Guardian Human trafficking has become a major issue in the Midwest heartland of America, causing some campaigners to dub it a modern form of slavery. Figures from the State Department reveal that 17,500 people are trafficked into the US every year against their will or under false pretences, mainly to be used for sex or forced labour. Experts believe that, when cases of internal trafficking are added, the total number of victims could be up to five times larger. And increasing numbers of trafficked individuals are being transported thousands of miles from America's coasts and into heartland states such as Ohio and Michigan. "It is not only a crime. It is an abomination," said Professor Mark Ensalaco, a political scientist at the University of Dayton, Ohio, who organised a recent conference on the issue. In Ohio a human trafficking commission has just been set up to study the problem, while in the northern Ohio city of Toledo a special FBI task force is tackling the issue. For many local law enforcement officials, it is a bewildering new world. | |
| Source: Alternet Vegetarians aren't the only ones who should be concerned; there's soy in just about everything you eat these days -- including hamburgers, mac 'n cheese and salad dressing... And some groups are waging an all-out war, warning that soy can lead to certain kinds of cancers, lowered testosterone levels, and early-onset puberty in girls. Adding to all these environmental problems with soy is the fact that much of the world's soy (and 85 percent of the U.S crop) is genetically engineered. Since the early '90s farmers in the United States (and now across the world) have been using Monsanto's Roundup Ready soy that is genetically engineered to be resistant to the herbicide Roundup, which is liberally sprayed on the crop to kill weeds. | |
| As millions of Americans struggle to hold on to their homes, Wall Street has found a way to make money from the mortgage mess. | |
| From the Caribbean to Brazil, political opposition to US plans for 'full-spectrum operations' is escalating rapidly Source: IndependentThe United States is massively building up its potential for nuclear and non-nuclear strikes in Latin America and the Caribbean by acquiring unprecedented freedom of action in seven new military, naval and air bases in Colombia. The development – and the reaction of Latin American leaders to it – is further exacerbating America's already fractured relationship with much of the continent. The new US push is part of an effort to counter the loss of influence it has suffered recently at the hands of a new generation of Latin American leaders no longer willing to accept Washington's political and economic tutelage. President Rafael Correa, for instance, has refused to prolong the US armed presence in Ecuador, and US forces have to quit their base at the port of Manta by the end of next month. So Washington turned to Colombia, which has not gone down well in the region. The country has received military aid worth $4.6bn (£2.8bn) from the US since 2000, despite its poor human rights record. Colombian forces regularly kill the country's indigenous people and other civilians, and last year raided the territory of its southern neighbour, Ecuador, causing at least 17 deaths. President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, who has not forgotten that US officers were present in government offices in Caracas in 2002 when he was briefly overthrown in a military putsch, warned this month that the bases agreement could mean the possibility of war with Colombia. In August, President Evo Morales of Bolivia called for the outlawing of foreign military bases in the region. President Manuel Zelaya of Honduras, overthrown in a military coup d'état in June and initially exiled, has complained that US forces stationed at the Honduran base of Palmerola collaborated with Roberto Micheletti, the leader of the plotters and the man who claims to be president. And, this being US foreign policy, a tell-tale trail of oil is evident. Brazil had already expressed its unhappiness at the presence of US naval vessels in its massive new offshore oilfields off Rio de Janeiro, destined soon to make Brazil a giant oil producer eligible for membership in Opec. The fact that the US gets half its oil from Latin America was one of the reasons the US Fourth Fleet was re-established in the region's waters in 2008. The fleet's vessels can include Polaris nuclear-armed submarines – a deployment seen by some experts as a .... | |
Special Air Service (SAS) and Special Boat Service (SBS). set to lift veil of secrecy over elite operations The incredible heroics of the Special Forces could be revealed for the first time under plans to lift their veil of secrecy. | |
| COLOMBIA warned overnight that its forces were on "maximum alert'' and were prepared to defend against any attack, amid rising tensions with neighbouring Venezuela. | |
| VeriChip (CHIP), the company that markets a microchip implant that links to your online health records, has acquired Steel Vault (SVUL), a credit monitoring and anti-identity theft company. The combined company will operate under a new name: PositiveID. The all-stock transaction will leave PositiveID in charge of a burgeoning empire of identity, health and microchip implant businesses that will only encourage its critics. BNET previously noted that some regard the company as part of a prophecy in the Book of Revelation (because the HealthLink chip carries an RFID number that can be used as both money and proof of ID) or as part of President Obama’s secret Nazi plan to enslave America. The most obvious criticism to be made of the deal is that it potentially allows PositiveID to link or cross-check patient health records (from the HealthLink chip) to people’s credit scores. One assumes that the company will put up firewalls to prevent that. PositiveID CEO Scott Silverman said:
Unless, of course, consumers don’t actually want to be implanted with chips, have their health records available over the internet, or have their medical records linked to their credit scores. | |
| A MAN lies comatose on an operating table. The enormous spider that hangs above him has plunged four appendages into his belly. The spider, made of white steel, probes around inside the man's abdomen then withdraws one of its arms. Held in the machine's claw is a neatly sealed bag containing a scrap of bloody tissue. | |
| Source: Daily Mail Scientists have created a Star Trek style phaser that can be used to both stun and revive creatures. However so far the weapon, which uses a special form of light, has only been used on tiny worms, not menacing Klingons..... At present doctors use light-sensitive materials and photo-reactions in medicine to treat certain forms of cancer and the study authors hope their research can contribute. Dr Branda said: 'We aren't trying to pretend that it's important that we can turn on and off paralysis in worms. But it opens new opportunities for the use of light in medicine.' The study has been published in the latest edition of Journal of the American Chemical Society. | |
Blackmail, cover-ups of child abuse, labour camps, embezzlement and coerced abortions are spelled out among the 53 pages of allegations by seven former Scientologists - some of whom had climbed high in the church hierarchy - tabled in the Senate.... But the senator dismisses the religious-freedom argument as "twisted logic". "Religious freedom did not mean the Catholic or Anglican churches were not held accountable for crimes and abuses committed by their priests, nuns and officials, albeit belatedly," he told the Senate. "In Australia there are not limits on what you can believe but there are limits on how you can behave. It's called the law, and no one is above it." | |
| Beginning 1 year after enactment of the Cap and Trade Act, you won't be able to sell your home unless you retrofit it to comply with the energy and water efficiency standards of this Act. H.R. 2454, the "Cap & Trade" bill passed by the House of Representatives, if also passed by the Senate, will be the largest tax increase any of us has ever experienced. This is a long excerpt, but you should read the entire post by Frank Carrio at http://www.nachi.org/forum/f14/cap-and-trade-license-required-your-home-44750/ The Congressional Budget Office (supposedly non-partisan) estimates that in just a few years the average cost to every family of four will be $6,800 per year. | |
A recently declassified US Army report on the biological effects of non-lethal weapons reveals outlandish plans for "ray gun" devices, which would cause artificial fevers or beam voices into people's heads. The report titled "Bioeffects Of Selected Nonlethal Weapons" was released under the US Freedom of Information Act and is available on this website (pdf). The DoD has confirmed to New Scientist that it released the documents, which detail five different "maturing non-lethal technologies" using microwaves, lasers and sound. Released by US Army Intelligence and Security Command at Fort Meade, Maryland, US, the 1998 report gives an overview of what was then the state of the art in directed energy weapons for crowd control and other applications. | |
13 ways to avoid toxic groceries
by EcoSalon
(From DivineCaroline.com) - Various shelves throughout every aisle of your grocery store are stocked with wolves in sheep's clothing. Colorful packaging, appetizing pictures, and nutrition claims hide the truth: unhealthy chemicals are lurking in many these seemingly harmless foods. Here are some tips to help you steer clear of hidden toxins that masquerade as safe products.
1. Stay away from processed meats like bacon, hot dogs, and sausage. Sodium nitrate accounts for their appetizing red hue, but this additive can also cause the formation of nitrosamines in your system, which can lead to cancer.
2. Stick to low-mercury fish like American-farmed tilapia instead of swordfish or tuna. Overexposure can cause memory problems, fatigue, and other health issues, and besides, most wild fish stocks are threatened these days. (Looking for an alternative? There's branzini, the fish you've never heard of.)
3. Reduce the amount of canned food you consume. Cans are commonly lined with bisphenol-A, an organic compound that, according to the Lang study, may be associated with diabetes and heart disease.
4. Cut back on meat and dairy products. These animal products may contain trace amounts of harmful contaminants like polybrominated diphenyl ethers, polychlorinated biphenyl and dioxins. Although many of these toxins have been banned, they are still present in the soil. Reducing your intake of animal products is also more friendly to the environment.
5. Skip the diet soda and artificial sweeteners. Prolonged exposure to aspartame, a neurotoxic chemical additive in these products, can lead to nerve cell damage, dizziness, and headaches. Besides, anything that gives rats brain tumors is worth avoiding in my book.
6. Choose the farmed fish carefully. Studies show that farm-raised fish contain more polychlorinated biphenyl and over ten times the amount of dioxin.
7. Opt for organic chicken. The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy discovered traces of arsenic in non-organic chickens. Exposure to this dangerous chemical can lead to cancer, diabetes and heart disease. Another study also found numerous antibiotic-resistant bacteria in conventional poultry.
8. Only drink milk that says "no rBGH" on the carton because recombinant bovine growth hormone has been linked with breast cancer. Better yet, opt for responsibly-produced, unsweetened soy, nut or rice milk.
9. Avoid manufactured snacks. Hydrogenated oils are used to lengthen the shelf life of products like crackers and cookies, but they are also associated with diabetes and heart disease. Another reason to stay away from the middle aisles: snack foods are generally loaded with salt, corn syrup and other unhealthy ingredients.
10. Stay away from artificially-colored foods like candy, maraschino cherries, and gelatin. Mice and rats exposed to blue 1 and 2, red 3 and yellow 6 suffered from brain, adrenal gland, thyroid, and kidney tumors.
11. Always buy organic produce. This one's a no-brainer, but the list wouldn't be complete without it. Lingering pesticides can lead to nervous and reproductive system damage, not to mention cancer.
12. Use stainless steel or cast iron cookware to prepare your meals. The Teflon used to create nonstick surfaces can release noxious gases when exposed to high temperatures, which puts you at risk for heart disease.
13. Never microwave food in plastic bowls, containers, or dishes. Exposure to heat causes the bisphenol-A found in plastics to break down and potentially contaminate your food. Also, make sure to hand wash them.
You guys all have a good morning and will talk at you later.......
My news blog: The Cave Published Version of my News Updates: Surviving the Revolution and Earthchanges 
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