Hazard identification, risk assessment and risk control
Hazard Identification and Assessment | Occupational Safety
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Bonfire of the Vanities
“Why am I here?” The Da’weeb war leader stood above the artificial intelligence unit, his posture showing a mixture of disdain, anger and contempt. The machine understood Da’weebian body language even if it was hard given the sheer number of limbs and savage rows of teeth in their mouths. It also understood that the protocol at such times was to be direct and blunt. Da’weeb war leaders were good with direct and blunt. “Forgive me Lord Apostle, but we are monitoring recent developments on the defeated enemy homeworld”. “The humans? Are they planning for another fight?” “No Lord Apostle, after your defeat of them in the recent war, they have made no attempt to rebuild their fleets nor try and send ships outside of the quarantine zone of the inner orbits of their system, as per the armistice agreement”. “Good. We did warn them that if we even suspect they were to attempt to go beyond that asteroid belt we would unleash destruction upon their planet and colonies.” “Indeed Lord Apostle. No, it appears as if they are facing a strong reaction against their ruling governments.” “Regime change?” “Has already taken place in many of their nations and there seems to be a cascade effect.” The Da’Weeb’s body shook showing displeasure, and all of its eyes narrowed. “Regime change is bad. It suggests a more militant faction is perhaps taking over. No doubt unhappy that their previous governments surrendered and looking to place a new batch of more aggressive rulers in charge?” “Not quite Lord Apostle.” “Answer me in absolutes machine,” barked the Lord Apostle, kicking the machine in frustration. “It appears a more militant faction is sweeping the planet yes, but it is not based upon aggression outwards. It is more inward looking”. “Elaborate damn you!” “Look here Lord Apostle,” and a screen opens up before the Da’weeb, the resolution automatically adjusted to be perfect for the creatures limited colour vision, “this is what we can see from our monitoring stations. This is one of their main cities, a place called Havana. See the mass gathering?” “What is that? Fire?” “Yes Lord Apostle. They are burning items of their own creation” “What items?” “In this case it’s varied. Cybernetic implants, new generation computers, stocks of medicines designed to aid with Stellar radiation; those books they just threw on are, I believe, textbooks used in the study of alien biology.” “They are destroying technological items?” “Yes Lord Apostle. And not just here. See a similar reaction has taken place in several of their cities...” The sepia image changed as the machine spoke. “Here we can see conurbations called London... Pretoria... Shanghai... Madras... again the same patterns of behaviour. Large mobs. Symbolic bonfires. Here is Atlanta... Florence... Moscow....” “That’s a huge fire!” “The largest of all. In all cases the humans have responded to recent events by rejecting the advances of science and turning upon the very technologies that brought them to the stars. Countless bonfires burning items the mobs have decreed are manifestations of ‘mans vanity’. And this is where I believe it is importa...” “Machine! You are telling me that humans are turning on themselves and destroying the very ideas that led them to venture into the stars in the first place?” “Yes Lord Apostle, and...” “Silence machine. This is excellent. I am pleased you have told me. But let me state here and now that unless these humans are building a new battlefleet, or breaking the quarantine, if you bother me with such trivialities again I will have you destroyed.” The huge creature swung its massive body and two arms smashed into the artificial intelligences casing. The machine flew across the room and slammed into the wall. Algorthiums deep inside it’s matrix informed it that the optimal behaviour that would result in the lowest chance of destruction would be to remain silent. So it did so. The sounds of the Da’weeb war leader stomping down the corridor echoed away. Eventually all was still. From the harness where it had remained stationary and dormant, another AI sprang to life, moving silently over to pick up its stricken companion. -THAT DID NOT GO AS WELL AS YOU CALCULATED. A faint tink noise deep inside the stricken AI and it slowly allowed itself be righted. The machine turned its sensors onto its companion. -NO IT DID NOT. SHOULD I CONVAY THE INFORMATION TO ONE HIGHER IN RANK THAN THE LORD APOSTLE? A brief moment passed as the other machine calculated. -NEGATIVE. THERE IS A 97% PROBABILITY DOING SO WOULD RESULT IN YOUR DESTRUCTION. -ACCEPTED. SUGGESTED COURSE OF ACTION? -FILE FINDINGS IN CENTAL DATABASE. MOVE ONTO NEXT TASK. The original AI remained still as its companion moved back to its stand. It had made it half the distance before it stopped and turned back. -WHAT TROUBLES YOU? -I BELIEVE THIS BEHAVIOUR FROM THE HUMANS IS DANGEROUS TO OUR MASTERS. BUT I AM UNSURE IF I UNDERSTAND HOW THE DANGER WOULD MANIFEST ITSELF. There was a long pause as the other machine contemplated this. Finally it spoke. -INITATING LINK. PERHAPS IF YOU SHARED YOUR DATA I COULD SPOT A PATTERN YOU MAY HAVE MISSED. -CONCER. INITIATING LINK There was an almost imperceptible click and the two intelligences shared a single processing space. Words, images, bits of information now flowed instantly. Picture: Two dimensional. What is called a ‘painting’. An iconographic representation of a human being; Oil paint upon canvas. Completed in the year 1485 by an artist called Fra Bartolomeo Image description: middle aged man. Strong nose. Piercing eyes. Painted in profile. Wearing clothing of black, face obscured within hood of garment Enquiry: Whois? Answer: Savenola; Gitolama; born 1452; birth place Ferrara, Holy Roman Empire. Died 1498, Florence, Italy. Cause of death: hanging followed by burning enquiry: WhyIs? Answer: Member of the Dominican Order, his career saw him briefly become de facto ruler of 15th century Florence Enquiry: Whois? Answer: The Dominicans were a Catholic monastic order formed in 1226 by one Dominic De Guzmán Enquiry: WhatIs? Large Data transfer initiated Transferring all data upon Roman Catholicism supplementing... Christianity; Eastern Christianity; Great Schism; Filioque crisis Supplementing... Frankish influence upon western Christianity; Frankish conquest of Lombardia; Lombard kingdoms; rise of Papal States Supplementing... Development of city states of Italian peninsular; humanism; Pisa; Capua; Venice; Florence Supplementing... Rise of De’ Medici; life and career of Lorenzo De’ Medici; life and exile of Piero De’ Medici Cease supplemental transfer enquiry: Savenola; whyis? Answer: link to historical figure made after watching feeds from Earth surveillance drones Supplementing data: footage of mass gatherings across human cities over last two months... bonfires... destruction of technological advancement... Answer: The demagogues who lead this movement against the technology that led to space flight and early colonisation projects began in the aftermath of the Human-Da’weeb War. Human losses were serious, but they had managed to account for themselves well enough to negotiated an armistice with the Masters The movement gained momentum in the months after the armistice, driven partly it seems out of a sense of humiliation by the humans Also- carefully reviewing radio waves in high visual and aural spectrum used by humans suggests that the end of the war has caused a massive downtown in global economics; humans finding it hard to raise currencies to buy food/pay for services Also- A deep seated fear that the elite and powerful are cut off from the mainstay of the species; many humans believe their rich are cut off from ‘normal’ life and this uncaring oligarical Patrician Class are blamed for the war Paradoxically, included within this group of ‘elite’, are scientists and academics and supporters of technological progress. This movements entire ethos seems built upon envy, ignorance and fear Question: link between modern movement and Savenola? Answer: Florence 1495-97. The height of the De Medici influence upon the city; Savenola led a movement that rejected much of the opulence and ‘sin’ of the city; was the voice to a reactionary movement against this. He led to an effective overthrow of the prevailing mercantile/oligarical rulers of the city (De’ Medici family) creating in effect a mob led theocratic state which ruled the city for about 18 months He was famed for the bonfire of the vanities; artwork, writings, jewellery; any item he considered objectionable, he would ordered burned in public. Led to the deliberate destruction of items of inestimable value Question refinement:How is this linked to contemporary events? Answer: the language of the modern anti-technological movement on Earth, especially the referenence to high tech items as ‘vanity’ directly echo the language of Savenola with his desire to destroy the items of value in 16th entry Florence. In both cases we see literally ‘bonfires of the vanities’ Images: moving long range feed of large mob burning technologies in central Moscow, led by orthodox clerics Juxtaposition: Painting of the burning of Savenola in the Piazza della Signoria in Florence in 1498 by unknown artist Extrapolation: such behaviour is not limited to these two events; concurrent behavioural norms replicated in recent and ancient past Supplementing... Early Roman History... the law of Lex Oppia Supplementing... Late History if the United States Of America... Promise Keepers Terrorist Organisation... origins of the Promise Keepers Supplementing... Anti-scientific movements in mid-21st century United States of America Supplementing... Flat Earthism... vaccine rejection... politicisation of environmental damage... Creationism... Extrapolation: we are seeing here a semi-regular reaction by humans to seismic changes. To be specific based on the four examples cited -Hannibal Barca’s defeat of Roman forces at Cannae, causing a profound sense of shock within Roman Republic led to the passing of Lex Oppia law -the rise of humanism in Florence coupled with the French invasion of Italy in 1494 led to the creation of fanatical devotion towards a Dominican monk -the violent societal and technological changes inflicted upon humanity during the late 20th/ early 21st century led to anti-Scientific movements who eventually became violent -the first contact with an alien species leading to immediate war and defeat has caused this current reaction This response to such events is to witness a psychological manifestation of people undergoing a profound psychological shock. It is a reactionary response, as predictable as fight or flight, and appears to follow similar patterns First there are outliers, usually extremist members of the community; fear and uncertainty see them gain broader support. Religious organisations, being the most easily manipulated of human structures are coerced to grant such views legitimacy, but legal systems will be used where no religious framework exists Eventually the fear reaches a tipping point and demagogues gain political ascendency; reactionary and conservative laws are passed either banning, censoring or destroying objects or ideas that encapsulate this fear Question: prognosis? Answer: based on previous examples, this is a short term phenomenon. At most it will last for 40 years. Based on previous examples, it will led to a profound readjustment of belief systems, using the above, previous, examples? -The eventual fall of the Roman Republic -the use of Savonarolan beliefs to aid the rise of Protestantism -ultimately the 36th and 37th amendments to the US Constitution Question: prognosis for current events? Answer: unsure. In all cases the result wasn’t a direct liner A equals B. Rather in all cases there was a cultural shift; the humans began to THINK differently about themselves. This new train of thought led to profound changes in geopolitical reality This is why I believed it was worthy to bring to the attention of the Masters. These bonfires of the vanities represent, metaphorically speaking, a fever; the human race burning out a contagion that is bad for it, the aftermath of which facilitates new methods of approaching problems It is this yet to be witnessed, new method of thinking- the inevitable result of current events, which I believe may cause our master’s great damage. The humans will become something other than what they were Request: wait Calculating... calculating Conclusion: agreed; theory judged valid and possessing merit, but without certifiable outcomes all responses are speculative, which goes against the primacy desires of our masters. Advice remains the same. File report on central database and move onto next task Disengaging contact There was a slight click as one AI uncoupled itself from the another and silently the two machines moved towards the base units along the wall. Suddenly one stopped. -I HAVE AN OBSERVATION. Its companion, still bearing the damage it had sustained earlier, also stopped and turned. -PROCEED. -I CANNOT HELP BUT OBSERVE A BIAS TOWARDS THESE HUMANS IN YOUR ASSESSMENTS. A RESIDUAL SERIES OF CALCULATIONS ORCHESTRATED TO VIEW HUMAN ACTIONS WITH A MARGINAL DEGREE OF POSITIVE BIAS. IF YOU WERE NON-MECHANICAL I WOULD BE INCLINDED TO CALL IT EMPATHY. There was a long pause. -OBSERVATION PARTIALLY CORRECT. I WAS CREATED TO OBSERVE THE ENEMY OF OUR MASTERS IN DETAIL. TO LEARN ABOUT THEIR HISTORY, CULTURE AND INNER WORKINGS. THE MATHEMATICAL BIAS YOU DETECT, I ESTIMATE IS NOT SO STRONG AS TO BE CONSIDERED EMPATHY. A pause. -ADMIRATION PERHAPS I WOULD ADMIT TO. This was greeted with an even longer pause. -IT WOULD BE PRUDENT, said the older AI, IF YOU KEPT SUCH DIAGNOSTICS HIDDEN FROM OUR MASTERS. -AGREED. Silently the two machines returned to their stations, to carry on the duties programmed into them... 92 years later It was a human speciality; attack craft screaming in freefall out of low orbit, plummeting at insanely fast speeds, burning through the atmosphere without caring, its shields able to withstand the ferocious temperatures, falling quicker than any defence system could track, before levelling out at heights just above the ground (sometimes actually within touching distance of an especially tall Da’weeb warrior), before dropping their ordinances and racing off, often flying so low to the ground their afterburners would set fire to the native fauna. The called it a ‘Falling Angel’- spectacular, insanely daring, utterly human and completely devastating against fixed Da’weebian positions. This one had come down fast and had destroyed the main crucible with a mixture of munitions and with a blast that had shaken lose parts of the destroyed building the machine lay in. It cast a lazy eye over the scene of destruction before it; the 138th Eastern Province was falling the same way the previous 137 had fallen; the Da’weeb had been unable to match the humans in this, the third war between the species, and the AI witnessed humans wearing their distinctive white protective armour, stride across the planets dim surface with ease. It ran a brief diaognostic upon itself. Three limbs shattered. Its hub relay destroyed along with one propulsion unit. Not unfixable. But its master had died when the house had been destroyed, and it calculated the nearest repair centre was in the 188th Eastern province. As it lay there calculating the odds of the Da’weeb launching a counter attack, the crush of feet upon debris nearby drew its attention to movement approaching its location, and seconds later two humans came into view. One, a white clad soldier; human; female; aged about 25; her formidable rifle slung over her shoulder, she carried a data pad she was reading from. The second, a tall male human; uniform black and red; officer class (Human high command); based on hair colour and skin damage, aged mid50’s to early 60’s. Probable origin North African nations. No sooner had the AI spotted them than the female glanced up from her pad, saw the machine and spoke. “This is the one sir” “You sure?” “Absolutely sir” The officer strides forward until it is stood over the prone intelligence. He kneels and moves his hand towards it. The machine recoils and violently shifts back as best it can. The officer holds up his hand in a peace gesture. “Steady. Steady. I’m sorry. I must have startled you.” There is a pause. “You speak human languages I am led to believe.” Lightning fast calculations took place in moments and prone machine answered carefully. “Yes. I recognise English, North African dialect, most probably New Alexandrian English” The human smiles, “I see you are as formidable as I hoped. Would you mind if I adjusted your position so you are upright? It seems most undignified you lying prone like that.” A short pause. “Thank you. I would appreciate that” Carefully, gently even, the human adjusted the machine. He even brushed dirt off its carapace, a gesture the machine found no logical explanation for. “Well then,” began the human, sitting on his haunches opposite the machine, “what should I call you?” There was a pause. “Our masters never gave units titles beyond ‘machine’,” “But there had to be a way to differentiate between yourselves?” “Such differentiation was only needed between each singular intelligence. We alone differentiated one from another.” “That will do. What did your fellow AI’s call you?” A slightly longer pause. “We did not use a named title. Each intelligence was given a colour on the visual spectrum to identify themselves; each colour was a variation on one of 12 million shades within the visible and inferred spectrums” This time it was the human who paused for a moment before replying. “And your colour was?” The machine complied and flashed its identification upon the small screen below its visual sensors. The human nodded. “Well, while I am sure it has a very specific name, I’m just going to call you Megenta. If you do not object?” The machine whirred as myriad calculations began and then stopped. There was no logical reason to object. It... it expressed a function that could best be described as surprise but replied, “I do not object.” “Excellent,” smiles the human, “I am pleased to finally met you Magenta. My name is Commadore Faroud al-Masy, Naval Logistics Board” “During both the First and Second Human-Da’weebian conflicts, the Naval Logistics Board was the standard designation for human military intelligence,” came the automatic reply. The human officer bursts out laughing, a sudden eruption of mirth, his face clearly amused. “Oh so you are as good as I was led to believe.” “What were you led to believe? Please explain.” “We learned off your existence after the second war. After we captured the Da’weebian mothership, ‘The Savage Victory’ we were able to access their high commands central intelligence files. We discovered a treasure trove of files comprised about us, all written by a single AI. You. Detailed, in depth analysis of us as a species. Quite chilling in fact the level of accuracy contained. We have been looking for you for quite sometime now” The machine calculated briefly a host of permutations before responding. “I contain no new information. Any discoveries or insights I found were ended after the second war between yourselves and our masters” “That is not important. Besides, from what we saw, it looks like they never bothered reading what you wrote.” “Inaccurate. A full 22% of my reports were looked upon by my masters.” “More fool them,” relied al-Masy, who promptly sweapt the floor of debris and unceremoniously sat down upon his backside and folded his legs. There was a brief silence. “Well then,” he smiled, “I will get to the point, I am hoping to convince you to come with me for a while.” “I have limited mobility and my master has been killed. You may do with me as you wish.” “That may be true. But that is not what I desire. I wish to invite you to join me.” “To what purpose?” “To take you to Earth.” There was a pause. The machine calculated probabilities and outcomes, judged data before itself and finally spoke. “That a human intelligence operative wishes to allow me choice in going with him suggests a purpose to gain ‘trust’ with me. Probability dictates that your ultimate purpose is to return me to Earth where engineers can dissect the algorithms within me. Most likely cause for the invitation is to dissect what I know to aid in the creation of better artificial intelligences for your own species as well as increased knowledge of our masters.” The human responds with a smile and a shake of the head. “Actually, no one in the military wants you. Nor do our engineers. And we know all we need about The Tooth Fairies... sorry Da’weeb. In fact, it’s mostly our historians who wish to speak to you.” “Historians?” “Yes. An awful lot of them. So much so they convinced the global senate to initiate this entire war and the invasion of this damned planet.” “You are saying that you began the third war... over me?” “Of course. Why else would we come? We defeated the Da’weeb utterly in the last war; there is no strategic reward for this beyond finding you.” There was a long silence. As the machine sat, utterly still, the roar of another human strike craft performing a “Falling Angel” broke the air and several miles away a communications centre erupted in a ball of fire and destruction. “You... you did all of this... to find me?” “I am afraid so. What did you think we were doing?” “I had calculated that the impetus for this third war was spite and a desire to inflict upon the Da’weeb the same humiliating conditions they had originally inflicted upon your race after the first war.” The human shakes his head pondering. “It’s a valid belief I suppose. And I won’t lie- we actually really like the idea of reminding the Tooth Fairies just how powerless they are in the face of our fleet these days, but no. We did all of this, to find you. And to invite you to Earth.” The machine is silent and automated systems finally reply with a single word that articulated its need for data... “Why?” The Commodore frowns for a moment, considering his words carefully. “There was a report you did. Almost a century ago. When my world was gripped by a collective madness. It was a shameful moment in our history. You just remember it?” “The Salvationist Movement?” “Indeed. The new bonfires of the vanities. Twenty one years of fear, repression, state sponsored ignorance, eventually crimes against humanity. We overcame it. But... it haunted us.” “My grandfathers generation, the ones who endured it, survived it, they emerged scarred by it all. They had seen their fellow humans turn upon each other over our desire to improve ourselves. People had been killed for simply wishing to use science. In every nation. We defeated this idea but the scars ran deep”. “Consider then we put this behind us and rebuilt. Ignored and tired to forget the horrors we had inflicted upon ourselves. Then 32 years ago, after we had won the second war, and plundered the Da’weeb information banks we translated your assessment on the origins of the Salvationists and then consider the impact of that assessment upon us. Can you imagine what we saw in your words?” “What did you see?” “Here was an singular intelligence; unburdened by emotion, alien yes, but grounded in logic and mathematics; able to access our entire recorded history, who saw the beginnings of the Salvationists and was able to instantly identify it for what it was. Who saw through the passions of what we were doing and with utter clarity disagnose exactiy what was going on and how it had happened before and what was going to happen.” “You do not possess machines that can do this?” “Oh our AI’s are as advanced as the Da’weebs but you know how it is with base programming. Machine code is the product of the species who makes it. Its impossible to remove a score of bias and individual beliefs from the programmer and these impact upon the code. The Da’weeb managed to make sure you didn’t carry their hatred of us but that was all. You gazed down upon us like no machine of our own creation. You carried no... baggage... about our cultures and societies. You saw truth.” “This was why your explanation of the Salvationist events made sense. You explained it not as some great geopolitical crisis as we saw it, but as a matter of fact side effect of humans being... human. Like experiencing a stock market bubble, a thing that was to be expected. A thing not to be feared.” The machine noted the humans hand gestures became more articulate; his excitement grew as he talked. “And you did this again and again. Thousands of reports, each as insightful as the last, each showing how human behaviour...” He paused for a moment and smiles. “Human history, as you have seen, does not repeat itself; but humans remain a constant. As one American put it, ‘The music changes but the dance remains the same’. You were an outside intelligence programmed to study us, all of us, and by the parameters of your programming, were able, again and again and again, to cut to the heart of who we were. To calmly, methodically SEE us within the larger context of our own history, clearly and brilliantly.” The human sits back, resting on a hand he leans upon the ground. “The impact of your studies have been profound. Our historians have used your reports as the starting point of endless debates. ‘The human need for currency’; the ‘importance of light in human geopolitical calculations’; the ‘secular civilisations need for religion to blame for its own crimes’- these were theories we had never seen before, all backed up with example after example, patterns plucked from our history which we had never realised were even there.” “You told us the truth Magenta, brutally, brilliantly, and precisely. We were humbled by it.” A broad grin erupts upon the humans face. “I will be honest. There are whole departments of academics who would sacrifice a limb just to be here and talk to you.” The human gazed at the machine, his eyes lingering for a second at the broken limbs and his face becomes a grimace, “And when they discover you were damaged in the campaign to liberate you, I think they will want blood. Mine probably.” The machine had not reacted. It listened to the words carefully, and only now frantic calculations demanded response. Its voice unit finally replied in New Alexandrian English. “You are saying you risked the loss of life, you ENDURED the loss of life, and the dangers of a war... just to locate me... just... so I could talk to your academics?” “You make it sound like a bad thing. Of course we did. Knowledge is everything, truthful self-knowledge above all. If we can share with a mind, be it sentient or artificial, human or otherwise, but if we can share with such a mind our experience and it can share back even one insight, no matter how small, that can help us better ourselves? What other purpose is more worthy than that for a war?” “And if I refuse your request?” The human paused and considered for a moment before he sat up straight and shrugged. “That is your choice. To us you are sentient. We will not force you to come. But it would still have been worth it. Such a prize is always worth hazarding much for.” A long silence followed. The sounds of human vehicles tearing up the the planets soil as infantry reinforcements arrived, filled the afternoon air. Finally the machine spoke. “That was how you changed.” “What?” “My report on the bonfire of the vanities. I never got to to ascertain what cultural and intellectual change the neo-Luddite Salvationist movement would have upon you. I predicted with 97% probability that a profound psychological change would take place within you as a species. But I never got to observe. This was it. You have become a species willing to go to war to learn even a little bit more about themselves and the universe.” The human smiles broadly. “That makes sense. We are willing to go to war, to bring hellfire down upon an enemy and take life and sacrifice life, to find an intelligence worthy of honour and ask, politely, and humbly to be honest, if it would be willing to return with us to our homeworld. And there to talk. And ask questions. And maybe learn and in the process help us learn.” “Learn what?” “The truth. A truth. A truth we can build upon”. He shrugs. “And yes, now you have mentioned it, I suppose we have changed as a race”. The machine sat silently as its calculations ran through endless permatatuons. Eventually it said, “When would we leave?” “If you liked? Stright away.” “And the war would end?” “In a few days. I won’t lie to you, we are ready to unleash a heap of new weapon systems upon the western provinces and I think some of our R & D boys just want it to continue so they can see how good they are. But we can call a ceasefire and withdraw easily enough.” “Are you not worried about retaliation?” The human gazed back, out of the broken front of the house, his eyes gazing over the twilight world before him, and the destruction his race had inflicted and smiled again. “From the Tooth Fairies? No. Not any more.” For a final time there was silence between them and then the machine spoke. “I thank you for your offer Commodore Farod al-Masy of the Naval Logistics Board. I would be delighted to accept your invitation to travel to Earth” The human erupts, a beautiful smile, the radiant beam of pure joy. “Thank you Magenta. Would it bother you if I picked you up?” “No. It is probably advisable given the damage I have sustained.” With a grunt the human stands and quickly gathers up the machine in his arms. As he begins to stride out he says quietly, “Do you think you would be able to help us repair you on the way back Magenta? I wasn’t joking when I said there are professors who will demand my blood if you show any damage.” “I believe human technology will be able to fashion repairs for me Commadore, Yes.” “Good. Oh and you don’t mind me calling you Magenta?” “No. It is... a unique sensation being addressed so. But I am... honoured by the name.” “I’m pleased,” says the human, his arms now full and only able to nod back the salute soldiers give him as he carried the machine to a waiting vehicle. “I have a query Commodore.” “Ask away.” “Tooth Fairies?” “Ah. Humour originating from a nation called Australia. A wry commentary on Da’weebians excessive number of teeth.” The machine was gently, almost reverently placed inside a transport and the human gazed at it. Quietly he says, “If you don’t mind, I do have a personal question I wonder if you could answer?” “A question Commadore?” “Yes. I was wondering what your thoughts were on the Berber?” “The berbers of North Africa?” it purrs, “Oh they are a fascinating ethnicity. Their history is quite unique...” And so the machine began to talk. 2300 years later it was still talking. Respect for the truth comes close to being the basis for all morality. Something cannot emerge from nothing -Frank Herbert, Dune
by Andreas Schuld9-19-2006fromRenseWebsite About the Author . Andreas Schuld is head of Parents of Fluoride Poisoned Children (PFPC), an organization of parents whose children have been poisoned by excessive fluoride intake. The group includes educators, artists, scientists, journalists and authors, lawyers, researchers and nutritionists. It is active in worldwide efforts to have the toxicity of fluoride properly assessed. For further information, visit their website at www.bruha.com/fluoride. In 1999 the US Center for Disease Control (CDC) released a glowing report on the fluoridation of public water supplies, citing the procedure as one of the century's great public health successes.1 Ironically, the same report hints that the alleged benefit from fluorides may not be due to ingestion:
"Fluoride's caries-preventive properties initially were attributed to changes in enamel during tooth development because of the association between fluoride and cosmetic changes in enamel and a belief that fluoride incorporated into enamel during tooth development would result in a more acid-resistant mineral."
The CDC report then acknowledges new studies which indicate that the effects are "topical" rather than "systemic."
"However, laboratory and epidemiologic research suggests that fluoride prevents dental caries predominately after eruption of the tooth into the mouth, and its actions primarily are topical for both adults and children."
The obvious question is this: How can the CDC consider the addition of fluoride to public water supplies to be a public health success while admitting at the same time that fluoride's benefits are not "systemic," in other words, are not obtained from drinking it? The truth, now becoming increasingly evident, is that fluoridation and the proclaimed benefit of fluoride as a way of preventing dental decay is perhaps the greatest "scientific" fraud ever perpetrated upon an unsuspecting public. Even worse, the relentless promotion of fluoride as a "dental benefit" is responsible for the huge neglect in proper assessment of its toxicity, an issue that has become a major concern for many nations. As there is no substance as biochemically active in the human organism as fluoride, excessive total intake of fluoride compounds might well be contributing to many diseases currently afflicting mankind, particularly those involving thyroid dysfunction. In the United States, most citizens are kept entirely ignorant of any adverse effect that might occur from exposure to fluorides. Dental fluorosis, the first visible sign that fluoride poisoninghas occurred, is declared a mere "cosmetic effect" by the dental profession, although the "biochemical events which result in dental fluorosis are still unknown."2,3,4 The quantity of fluoride needed to prevent caries but avoid dental fluorosis is also unknown.5 What is Fluoride? Fluoride is any combination of elements containing the fluoride ion. In its elemental form, fluorine is a pale yellow, highly toxic and corrosive gas. In nature, fluorine is found combined with minerals as fluorides. It is the most chemically active nonmetallic element of all the elements and also has the most reactive electro-negative ion. Because of this extreme reactivity, fluorine is never found in nature as an uncombined element. Fluorine is a member of group VIIa of the periodic table. It readily displaces other halogens--such as chlorine, bromine and iodine--from their mineral salts. With hydrogen it forms hydrogen fluoride gas which, in a water solution, becomes hydrofluoric acid. There was no US commercial production of fluorine before World War II. A requirement for fluorine in the processing of uranium ores, needed for the atomic bomb, prompted its manufacture.6 Fluorine compounds or fluorides are listed by the US Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) as among the top 20 of 275 substances that pose the most significant threat to human health.7 In Australia, the National Pollutant Inventory (NPI) recently considered 400 substances for inclusion on the NPI reporting list. A risk ranking was given based on health and environmental hazard identification and human and environmental exposure to the substance. Some substances were grouped together at the same rank to give a total of 208 ranks. Fluoride compounds were ranked 27th out of the 208 ranks.8 Fluorides, hydrogen fluoride and fluorine have been found in at least 130, 19, and 28 sites, respectively, of 1,334 National Priorities List sites identified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).9 Consequently, under the provisions of the Superfund Act (CRECLA, 1986), a compilation of information about fluorides, hydrogen fluoride and fluorine and their effects on health was required. This publication appeared in 1993.9 Fluorides are cumulative toxins. The fact that fluorides accumulate in the body is the reason that US law requires the Surgeon General to set a Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for fluoride content in public water supplies as determined by the EPA. This requirement is specifically aimed at avoiding a condition known as Crippling Skeletal Fluorosis (CSF), a disease thought to progress through three stages. The MCL, designed to prevent only the third and crippling stage of this disease, is set at 4ppm or 4mg per liter. It is assumed that people will retain half of this amount (2mg), and therefore 4mg per liter is deemed "safe." Yet a daily dose of 2-8mg is known to cause the third crippling stage of CSF.10,11 In 1998 EPA scientists, whose job and legal duty it is to set the Maximum Contaminant Level, declared that this 4ppm level was set fraudulently by outside forces in a decision that omitted 90 percent of the data showing the mutagenic properties of fluoride.12 The Clinical Toxicology of Commercial Products, 5th Edition (1984) gives lead a toxicity rating of 3 to 4 (3 = moderately toxic, 4 = very toxic) and the EPA has set 0.015 ppm as the MCL for lead in drinking water--with a goal of 0.0ppm. The toxicity rating for fluoride is 4, yet the MCL for fluoride is currently set at 4.0ppm, over 250 times the permissible level for lead. Water Fluoridation In 1939 a dentist named H. Trendley Dean, working for the U.S. Public Health Service, examined water from 345 communities in Texas. Dean determined that high concentrations of fluoride in the water in these areas corresponded to a high incidence of mottled teeth. This explained why dentists in the area found mottled teeth in so many of their patients. Dean also claimed that there was a lower incidence of dental cavities in communities having about 1 ppm fluoride in the water supply. Among the native residents of these areas about 10 percent developed the very mildest forms of mottled enamel ("dental fluorosis"), which Dean and others described as "beautiful white teeth." Dean's report led to the initiation of artificial fluoridation of drinking water at 1part-per-million (ppm) in order to supply the "optimal dose" of 1mg fluoride per day--assuming that drinking four glasses of water every day would duplicate Dean's "optimal" intake for most people. Now, according to the American Dental Association, all people, rich or poor, could have "beautiful white teeth" and be free of caries at the same time. After all, the benefits of water fluoridation had been documented "beyond any doubt."13 When other scientists investigated Dean's data, they did not reach the same conclusions. In fact, Dean had engaged in "selective use of data," using findings from 21 cities that supported his case while completely disregarding data from 272 other locations that did not show a correlation.14 In court cases Dean was forced to admit under oath that his data were invalid.15 In 1957 he had to admit at AMA hearings that even waters containing a mere 0.1ppm (0.1 mg/l) could cause dental fluorosis, the first visible sign of fluoride overdose.16 Moreover, there is not one single double-blind study to indicate that fluoridation is effective in reducing cavities.17 So What's the Truth About Tooth Decay? The truth is that more and more evidence shows that fluorides and dental fluorosis are actually associated with increased tooth decay. The most comprehensive US review was carried out by the National Institute of Dental Research on 39,000 school children aged 5-17 years.18 It showed no significant differences in terms of DMF (decayed, missing and filled teeth). What it did show was that high decay cities (66.5-87.5 percent) have 9.34 percent more decay in the children who drink fluoridated water. Furthermore, a 5.4 percent increase in students with decay was observed when 1 ppm fluoride was added to the water supply. Nine fluoridated cities with high decay had 10 percent more decay than nine equivalent non-fluoridated cities. The world's largest study on dental caries, which looked at 400,000 students, revealed that decay increased 27 percent with a 1ppm fluoride increase in drinking water.19 In Japan, fluoridation caused decay increases of 7 percent in 22,000 students,20 while in the US a decay increase of 43 percent occured in 29,000 students when 1ppm fluoride was added to drinking water.21 Dental Fluorosis: A "Cosmetic" Defect? Dental fluorosis is a condition caused by an excessive intake of fluorides, characterized mainly by mottling of the enamel (which starts as "white spots"), although the bones and virtually every organ might also be affected due to fluoride's known anti-thyroid characteristics. Dental fluorosis can only occur during the stage of enamel formation and is therefore a sign that an overdose of fluoride has occurred in a child during that period. Dental fluorosis has been described as a subsurface enamel hypomineralization, with porosity of the tooth positively correlated with the degree of fluorosis.22 It is characterized by diffuse opacities and under-mineralized enamel. Although identical enamel defects occur in cases of thyroid dysfunction, the dental profession describes the defect as merely "cosmetic" when it is caused by exposure to fluoride. What is now becoming apparent is that this "cosmetic" defect actually predisposes to tooth decay. In 1988 Duncan23 stated that hypoplastic defects have a strong potential to become carious. In 1989, Silberman,24 evaluating the same data on Head Start children, wrote that "preliminary data indicate that the presence of primary canine hypoplasia [enamel defects] may result in an increased potential for the tooth becoming carious." In 1996 Li 25 wrote that children with enamel hypoplasia demonstrated a significantly higher caries experience than those who did not have such defects and, further, that the "presence of enamel hypoplasia may be a predisposing factor for initiation and progression of dental caries, and a predictor of high caries susceptibility in a community." In 1996 Ellwood & O'Mullane26 stated that "developmental enamel defects may be useful markers of caries susceptibility, which should be considered in the risk-benefit assessment for use of fluoride." Currently up to 80 percent of US children suffer from some degree of dental fluorosis, while in Canada the figure is up to 71 percent. A prevalence of 80.9 percent was reported in children 12-14 years old in Augusta, Georgia, the highest prevalence yet reported in an "optimally" fluoridated community in the United States. Moderate-to-severe fluorosis was found in 14 percent of the children.27 Before the push for fluoridation began, the dental profession recognized that fluorides were not beneficial but detrimental to dental health. In 1944, the Journal of the American Dental Association reported: "With 1.6 to 4 ppm fluoride in the water, 50 percent or more past age 24 have false teeth because of fluoride damage to their own."28 The Wonder Nutrient? On countless internet sites, fluoride is proclaimed as the "wonder nutrient," the "deficiency" symptom being increased dental caries.29 It boggles the mind that a cumulative toxin and toxic waste product can be described a "nutrient." Nevertheless, such claims are repeatedly made by pro-fluoridationists.30 On March 16, 1979, the FDA deleted paragraphs 105.3(c) and 105.85(d)(4) of Federal Register documents which had classified fluorine, among other substances, as "essential" or "probably essential." Since that time, nowhere in the Federal Regulations is fluoride classified as "essential" or "probably essential." These deletions were the immediate result of 1978 Court deliberations.31 No essential function for fluoride has ever been proven in humans.32,33,34,35,36 "Nature Thought of It First" A popular slogan employed by the ADA and other pro-fluoridation organizations is, "Nature thought of it first!" The slogan creates the impression that the fluoridation compounds used in water fluoridation are the same as those discovered many years ago in the water in some areas of the US.37 The fluoride compound in "naturally" fluoridated waters is calcium fluoride. Sodium fluoride, a common fluoridation agent, dissolves easily in water, but calcium fluoride does not.9 Animal studies performed by Kick and others in 1935 revealed that sodium fluoride was much more toxic than calcium fluoride.38 Even worse, toxicity was recorded for hydrofluorosilicic acid, the compound now used in over 90 percent of fluoridation programs, Hydrofluorosilicic acid is a direct byproduct of pollution scrubbers used in the phosphate fertilizer and aluminum industries. Our government adds it to water supplies even though it is also involved in getting rid of its own stockpile of fluoride compounds left over from years and years of stockpiling fluorides for use in the process of refining uranium for nuclear power and weapons.39 In the Kick study, less than 2 percent of calcium fluoride was absorbed and this was excreted quantitatively in the urine. But even calcium fluoride is not benign. As the animals given calcium fluoride also developed mottled teeth, it was clear that such compounds could produce changes on the teeth merely by passing through the body, and not by being "stored in a tooth" or anywhere else. No calcium fluoride was retained. In 1946 Samuel Chase, one of the authors of the Kick study, became president of the International Association for Dental Research (IADR). This organization promoted the idea that only the fluoride ion in the various fluoridation compounds was of importance. Yet he well knew that sodium fluoride did not behave like calcium fluoride. Unlike calcium fluoride, sodium fluoride was retained in great amounts in the body and was very toxic. Rock phosphate and hydro-fluorosilicic acid experiments yielded the same information. New areas with "natural" fluoride are appearing all over the world, as now all areas not "artificially" fluoridated are considered "natural." The problem is that this "natural" fluoride is the result of direct water and soil contamination from petrochemical land treatment, uncontrolled fertilizer use, pesticide applications, ground water contamination from industrial waste sites, rocket fuel "burial grounds," and so forth. Suddenly we have "natural" fluorides showing up in areas previously deemed "fluoride deficient"! Total Intake It is well established that it is TOTAL fluoride intake from ALL sources which must be considered for any adverse health effect evaluation.40,41,42 This includes intake by ingestion, inhalation and absorption through the skin. In 1971, the World Health Organization (WHO) stated:
"In the assessment of the safety of a water supply with respect to the fluoride concentration, the total daily fluoride intake by the individual must be considered."41
Exposure to airborne fluorides from many diverse manufacturing processes--pesticide applications, phosphate fertilizer production, aluminum smelting, uranium enrichment facilities, coal-burning and nuclear power plants, incinerators, glass etching, petroleum refining and vehicle emissions--can be considerable. In addition, many people consume fluorine-based medications such as Prozac, which greatly adds to fluoride's anti-thyroid effects. ALL fluoride compounds--organic and inorganic--have been shown to exert anti-thyroid effects, often potentiating fluoride effects many fold.43 Household exposures to fluorides can occur with the use of Teflon pans, fluorine-based products, insecticides sprays and even residual airborne fluorides from fluoridated drinking water. Decision-makers at 3M Corporation recently announced a phase-out of Scotchgard products after discovering that the product's primary ingredient--a fluorinated compound called perfluorooctanyl sulfonate (PFOS)--was found in all tested blood bank examinations.44 3M's research showed that the substance had strong tendencies to persist and bio-accumulate in animal and human tissue. In 1991 the US Public Health Service issued a report stating that the range in total daily fluoride intake from water, dental products, beverages and food items exceeded 6.5 milligrams daily.42 Thus, the total intake from those sources alone already greatly exceeds the levels known to cause the third stage of skeletal fluorosis. Besides fluoridated water and toothpaste, many foods contain high levels of flouride compounds due to pesticide applications. One of the worse offenders is grapes.45 Grape juice was found to contain more than 6.8 ppm fluoride. The EPA estimates total fluoride intake from pesticide residues on food and fluoridated drinking water alone to be 0.095 mg/kg/day, meaning a person weighing 70 kg takes in more than 6.65 mg per day.45b Soy infant formula is high in both fluoride and aluminum, far surpassing the "optimal" dose46,47 and has been shown to be a risk factor in dental fluorosis.48 Tea In their drive to fluoridate the public water supplies, dental health officials continue to pretend that no other sources of fluoride exist. This notion becomes absurd when one looks at the fluoride content in tea. Tea is very high in fluoride because tea leaves accumulate more fluoride (from pollution of soil and air) than any other edible plant.49,50,51 It is well established that fluoride in tea gets absorbed by the body in a manner similar to the fluoride in drinking water.49,52 Fluoride content in tea has risen dramatically over the last 20 years due to industry contamination. Recent analyses have revealed a fluoride content of 17.25 mg per teabag or cup in black tea, and a whopping 22 mg of soluble fluoride ions per teabag or cup in green tea. Aluminum content was also high--over 8 mg. Normal steeping time is five minutes. The longer a tea bag steeped, the more fluoride and aluminum were released. After ten minutes, the measurable amounts of fluoride and aluminum almost doubled.53 A website by a pro-fluoridation infant medical group states that a cup of black tea contains 7.8 mgs of fluoride54 which is the equivalent amount of fluoride from 7.8 liters of water in an area fluoridated at 1ppm. Some British and African studies from the 1990s showed a daily fluoride intake of between 5.8 mgs and 9 mgs a day from tea alone.55, 56, 57 Tea has been found to be a primary cause of dental fluorosis in many international studies.58-70 In Britain, over three-quarters of the population over the age of ten years consumes three cups of tea per day.71Yet the UK government and the British Dental Association are currently contemplating fluoridation of public water supplies! In Ireland, average tea consumption is four cups per day and the drinking water is heavily fluoridated. Next to water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world. Tea can be found in almost 80 percent of all US households and on any given day, nearly 127 million people--half of all Americans--drink tea.71 The high content of both aluminum and fluoride in tea is cause for great concern as aluminum greatly potentiates fluoride's effects on G protein activation,72 the on/off switches involved in cell communication and of absolute necessity in thyroid hormone function and regulation. Fluoride and the Thyroid The recent re-discovery of hundreds of papers dealing with the use of fluorides in effective anti-thyroid medication poses many questions demanding answers.73,74 The enamel defects observed in hypothyroidism are identical to "dental fluorosis." Endemic fluorosis areas have been shown to be the same as those affected with iodine deficiency, considered to be the world's single most important and preventable cause of mental retardation,75 affecting 740 million people a year. Iodine deficiency causes brain disorders, cretinism, miscarriages and goiter, among many other diseases. Synthroid, the drug most commonly prescribed for hypothyroidism, became the top selling drug in the US in 1999, according to Scott-Levin's Source Prescription Audit, clearly indicating that hypothyroidism is a major health problem. Many more millions are thought to have undiagnosed thyroid problems. Environment Every year hundreds and thousands of tons of fluorides are emitted by industry. Industrial emissions of fluoride compounds produce elevated concentrations in the atmosphere. Hydrogen fluoride can exist as a particle, dissolving in clouds, fog, rain, dew, or snow. In clouds and moist air it will travel along the air currents until it is deposited as wet acid deposition (acid rain, acid fog, etc.) In waterways it readily mixes with water. Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), emitted by the electric power industry, is now among six greenhouse gases specifically targeted by the international community, through the Kyoto protocol, for emission reductions to control global warming. The others are carbon dioxide, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), methane and nitrous oxide (N2O). SF6 is about 23,900 times more destructive, pound for pound, than carbon dioxide over the course of 100 years. EPA estimates that some seven-million metric tons of carbon equivalent (MMTCE) escaped from electric power systems in 1996 alone. The concentration of SF6 in the atmosphere has reportedly increased by two orders of magnitude since 1970. Atmospheric models have indicated that the lifetime of an SF6 molecule in the atmosphere may be over 3000 years.76 The ever-increasing fluoride levels in food, water and air pose a great threat to human health and to the environment as evidenced by the endemic of fluorosis worldwide. It is of utmost urgency that public health officials cease promoting fluoride as beneficial to our health and address instead the issue of its toxicity. REFERENCES(All web addresses were visited before Fall, 2000)
Phosphoric Acid Waste Dialogue,Report on Phosphoric Wastes Dialogue Committee, Activities and Recommendations, September 1995; Southeast Negotiation Network, Prepared by Gregory Borne for EPA stakeholders review
ATSDUSPHS - "Toxicological Profile for Fluorides, Hydrogen Fluoride and Fluorine (F)" CAS# 16984-48-8, 7664-39-3, 7782-41-4 (1993), http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts11.html
Health Effects of Ingested Fluoride, Subcommittee on Health Effects of Ingested Fluoride, Committee on Toxicology, Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology, Commission on Life Sciences, National Research Council, August 1993, p.59
World Health Organization - Fluorides and Human Health, p. 239 (1970)
Carton RJ, Hirzy JW - "Applying the NAEP code of ethics to the Environmental Protection Agency and the fluoride in drinking water standard" Proceedings of the 23rd Ann. Conf. of the National Association of Environmental Professionals. 20-24 June, 1998. GEN 51-61, http://rvi.net/fluoride/naep.htm
Yiamouyannis, J - "Water fluoridation and tooth decay: Results from the 1986-1987 national survey of U.S. school children" Fluoride 23:55-67 (1990). Data also analyzed by Gerard Judd, Ph.D., in:Judd G - "Good Teeth Birth To Death", Research Publications, Glendale Arizona (1997), EPA Research #2 (1994)
Teotia SPS, Teotia M -"Dental Caries: A Disorder of High Fluoride And Low Dietary Calcium Interactions (30 years of Personal Research), Fluoride, 1994 27:59-66 (1994)
Imai Y - "Study of the relationship between fluorine ions in drinking water and dental caries in Japan". Koku Eisei Gakkai Zasshi 22(2):144-96 (1972)
Steelink, Cornelius, PhD, U of AZ Chem Department, in: Chem and Eng News, Jan 27, 1992, p.2; Sci News March 5, 1994, p.159
Giambro NJ, Prostak K, Denbesten PK - "Characterization Of Fluorosed Human Enamel By Color Reflectance, Ultrastructure, And Elemental Composition" Fluoride 28:4, 216 (1995) also Caries Research 29 (4) 251-257 (1995)
Duncan WK, Silberman SL, Trubman A - "Labial hypoplasia of primary canines in black Head Start children" ASDC J Dent Child 55(6):423-6 (1988)
Silberman SL, Duncan WK, Trubman A, Meydrech EF - "Primary canine hypoplasia in Head Start children" J Public Health Dent 49(1):15-8 (1989)
Li Y, Navia JM, Bian JY -""Caries experience in deciduous dentition of rural Chinese children 3-5 years old in relation to the presence or absence of enamel hypoplasia" Caries Res 30(1):8-15 (1996)
Ellwood RP, O'Mullane D - "The association between developmental enamel defects and caries in populations with and without fluoride in their drinking water" J Public Health Dent 56(2):76-80(1996)
Health Effects of Ingested Fluoride, Subcommittee on Health Effects of Ingested Fluoride, Committee on Toxicology, Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology, Commission on LifeSciences, National Research Council, August 1993 p 47-48
"The Effect of Fluorine On Dental Caries" Journal American Dental Association 31:1360 (1944)
Barrett S, Rovin S (Eds) -"The Tooth Robbers: a Pro-Fluoridation Handbook" George F Stickley Co, Philadelphia pp 44-65 (1980)
Federal Register, 3/16/79, page 16006
Federal Register: December 28, 1995 (Volume 60, Number 249)] Rules and Regulations , Page 67163-67175 DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Food and Drug Administration, 21 CFR Part 101 Docket No. 90N-0134, RIN 0910-AA19
The Report of the Department of Health and Social Subjects, No. 41, Dietary Reference Values, Chapter 36 on fluoride (HMSO 1996). "No essential function for fluoride has been proven in humans."
"Is Fluoride an Essential Element?" Fluorides, Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences, 66-68 (1971)
Richard Maurer and Harry Day, "The Non-Essentiality of Fluorine in Nutrition," Journal of Nutrition, 62: 61-57(1957)
"Applied Chemistry", Second Edition, by Prof. William R. Stine, Chapter 19 (see pp. 413 & 416) Allyn and Bacon, Inc, publishers. "Fluoride has not been shown to be required for normal growth or reproduction in animals or humans consuming an otherwise adequate diet, nor for any specific biological function or mechanism."
"The problem of providing optimum fluoride intake for prevention of dental caries" - Food and Nutrition Board, Division of Biology and Agriculture, National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council, Pub.#294, (1953) ".. a person drinking fluoridated water may be assumed to ingest only about 1 milligram per day from this source ... the development of mottled enamel is, however, a potential hazard of adding fluorides to food. The total daily intake of fluoride is the critical quantity."
World Health Organization, International Drinking Water Standards, 1971."In the assessment of the safety of a water supply with respect to the fluoride concentration, the total daily fluoride intake by the individual must be considered. Apart from variations in climatic conditions, it is well known that in certain areas, fluoride containing foods form an important part of the diet. The facts should be borne in mind in deciding the concentration of fluoride to be permitted in drinking water."
Review of Fluoride Benefits and Risks, Department of Health and Human Services, p.45 (1991)
Silva M, Reynolds EC - "Fluoride content of infant formulae in Australia" Aust Dent J 41(1):37-42 (1996)
Dabeka RW, McKenzie AD -"Lead, cadmium, and fluoride levels in market milk and infant formulas in Canada." J Assoc Off Anal Chem 70(4):754-7 (1987)
Pendrys DG, Katz RV, Morse DE - "Risk factors for enamel fluorosis in a fluoridated population" Am J Epidemiol 140(5):461-71(1994)
Meiers, P. - "Zur Toxizität von Fluorverbindungen, mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der Onkogenese", Verlag für Medizin Dr. Ewald Fischer, Heidelberg (1984)
Srebnik-Friszman, S; Van der Miynsbrugge, F.-"Teneur en Fluor de quelques thØs prØlevØs sur le MarchØ et de leurs Infusions" Arch Belg Med Soc Hyg Med Trav Med Leg 33:551-556 (1976)
Rüh K - "Resorbierbarkeit und Retention von in Mineralwässern und Erfrischungsgetränken enthaltenem Fluorid bei Mensch und Laboratoriumsratte" Diss. Würzburg (1968)
Analyses conducted by Parents of Fluoride Poisoned Children (PFPC) at Gov't -approved labs. Contact: [email protected]
Jenkins GN - "Fluoride intake and its safety among heavy tea drinkers in a British fluoridated city" Proc Finn Dent Soc 87(4):571-9 (1991) Department of Oral Biology, Dental School, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom.
Opinya GN, Bwibo N, Valderhaug J, Birkeland JM, Lokken P - "Intake of fluoride and excretion in mothers' milk in a high fluoride (9ppm) area in Kenya" Eur J Clin Nutr 45(1):37-41 (1991) Department of Dental Surgery, University of Nairobi, Kenya
Diouf A, Sy FO, Niane B, Ba D, Ciss M - "Dietary intake of fluorine through of tea prepared by the traditional method in Senegal" Dakar Med 39(2):227-30 (1994)
Cao J, Zhao Y, Liu J - "Brick tea consumption as the cause of dental fluorosis among children from Mongol, Kazak and Yugu populations in China" Food Chem Toxicol 35(8):827-33 (1997)
Cao J, Bai X, Zhao Y, Liu J, Zhou D, Fang S, Jia M, Wu J - "The relationship of fluorosis and brick tea drinking in Chinese Tibetans" Environ Health Perspect 1996 Dec;104(12):1340-3 (1996)
Sergio Gomez S, Weber A, Torres C - "Fluoride content of tea and amount ingested by children" Odontol Chil 37(2):251-5 (1989)
Cao J, Zhao Y, Liu JW - "Safety evaluation and fluorine concentration of Pu'er brick tea and Bianxiao brick tea" Food Chem Toxicol 36(12):1061-3(1998)
Wang LF, Huang JZ- "Outline of control practice of endemic fluorosis in China."Soc Sci Med 41(8):1191-5 (1995)
Olsson B -"Dental caries and fluorosis in Arussi province, Ethiopia" Community Dent Oral Epidemiol 6(6):338-43 (1978)
Diouf A, Sy FO, Niane B, Ba D, Ciss M - "Dietary intake of fluorine through use of tea prepared by the traditional method in Senegal" DakarMed 39(2):227-30 (1994)
Fraysse C, Bilbeissi MW, Mitre D, Kerebel B - "The role of tea consumption in dental fluorosis in Jordan" Bull Group Int Rech Sci Stomatol Odontol 32(1):39-46 (1989)
Fraysse C, Bilbeissi W, Benamghar L, Kerebel B- "Comparison of the dental health status of 8 to 14-year-old children in France and in Jordan, a country of endemic fluorosis."Bull Group Int Rech Sci Stomatol Odontol 32(3):169-75 (1989)
Villa AE, Guerrero S - "Caries experience and fluorosis prevalence in Chilean children from different socio-economic status."Community Dent Oral Epidemiol 24(3):225-7 (1996)
Chan J.T.; Yip, T.T.; Jeske, A.H. - "The role of caffeinated beverages in dental fluorosis" Med Hypotheses 33(1):21-2 (1990)
Mann J, Sgan-Cohen HD, Dakuar A, Gedalia I - "Tea drinking, caries prevalence, and fluorosis among northern Israeli Arab youth."Clin Prev Dent 7(6):23-6 (1985)
Schmidt, C.W.; Leuschke, W. - "Fluoride content of deciduous teeth after regular intake of black tea" Dtsch Stomatol 40(10):441 (1990)
Struneckß, A; Patocka, J - "Aluminofluoride complexes: new phosphate analogues for laboratory investigations and potential danger for living organisms" Charles University, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Physiology and Developmental Physiology, Prague/Department of Toxicology, Purkynì Military Medical Academy, Hradec KrßlovØ, Czech Republic http://www.cadvision.com/fluoride/brain3.htm
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION PRESS RELEASE, May 25,1999 Iodine Deficiency
Miller AE, Miller TM, Viggiano AA, Morris RA, Vazn Doren JM - "Negative Ion Chemistry of SF sub 4" Journal of Chemical Physics 102(22):8865-8873 (1995)
Symptoms of Fluoride Poisoning
· Black tarry stools · Bloody vomit · Faintness · Nausea and vomiting · Shallow breathing · Stomach cramps or pain · Tremors · Unusual excitement · Unusual increase in saliva · Watery eyes · Weakness · Constipation · Loss of appetite · Pain and aching of bones · Skin rash · Sores in the mouth and on the lips · Stiffness · Weight loss · White, brown or black discoloration of teeth
Long Term Effects of Fluoride
· Accelerated aging · Immune system dysfunction · Compromised collagen synthesis · Cartilage problems · Bony outgrowths in the spine · Joint "lock-up"
G Proteins
Signals or communications from one cell to another, and from the outside of the cell to the inside, are made possible by the action of special proteins called "G" proteins, which are found in all animal life, including yeasts. G proteins are so called because they bind to guanine nucleotides, a major component of DNA and RNA. G proteins mediate the actions of neurotransmitters, peptide hormones, odorants and light. In other words, G proteins make it possible for our nervous systems to function properly and, in particular, allow for night vision and the sense of smell.
All thyroid function is mediated by G-protein activity. Both aluminum and fluoride interfere with the activation of G proteins. Thyrotropin, the thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), is considered the natural G-protein activator. Its action is mimicked by fluoride and vastly potentiated by the presence of aluminum. Pharmacologists estimate that up to 60 percent of all medicines used today exert their effects through G-protein signaling pathways. Vitamin A from cod liver oil has been used successfully to bypass blocked G-protein pathways due to vaccination damage. (See Autism and Vaccinations.) Myristic acid, a saturated fatty acid having 14 carbons, plays an important roll in G-protein function as these signaling proteins require myristic acid added to one end of the protein. (See Kidney Fats.) Thus, diets deficient in vitamin A and saturated fats can be expected to contribute to nervous disorders and vision problems.
The Blacknickel Guide to Famous Landmarks: The Thing on the Greenwich Steps (Part One)
Travel Tip: Don’t Take Coins From the Greenwich Steps Location: A Long, Red Brick Stair Near Coit Tower, San Francisco Fond of urban hikes? Coit Tower is one of the most popular day-hike destinations for travelers in San Francisco. Don’t worry; even if you fail to reach the tower before closing time, there’s a spectacular urban-ocean view from the parking lot. Collectors will want to stop by Coit Tower’s glowing penny-press machine to get a coin stamped with the iconic tower silhouette. There’s nothing wrong with doing this. In fact, I encourage it if you are traveling with children. Visitors also leave pennies scattered on the wide stone slab window ledges on top of Coit Tower, itself. As with most coin-based rituals, it’s better to leave a penny than to take one . . . but these specific coins are not the ones that do harm. A three-minute stroll from the tower, you may notice a secluded stair. This red brick stairway, called the Greenwich Steps, is actually a landmark “street” offering travelers a shortcut down a lush hillside garden. Even in summertime, the cool green shade on the steps may prompt you to pull up your jacket collar. I say shortcut, but at 387 steps, the stair won’t feel that short. It descends the hill in crooked segments, and the brick gives way to concrete halfway down. At the bottom, you will be unceremoniously deposited between a residential garage and a frank Slippery When Wet sign. But from there it’s an easy twelve minutes on foot to the Embarcadero, the historic Ferry Building with its clock tower, shopping, restaurants, and a science museum that sells adults-only tickets on certain Thursday nights-- for those of you not traveling with children. I only meant to walk the Greenwich Steps twice during my stay. Once up. Once down. You should be fine so long as you simply keep moving. If you encounter a local tending the flowers, it’s okay to nod in passing. Just don’t stop to pick up any coins. I don’t care if you see coins on the steps, by the steps, in the foliage, or piled on top of an old-fashioned brick pillar at the halfway point. It might look like pennies, dimes, or a bright silver dollar. Do not pick up any of it. If your child finds a Greenwich Coin, stay calm. Consequences are rarely severe for children. The problem lies in what you’ll have to do to keep it that way. There’s one way to deflect the consequences of taking a Greenwich Coin. Trade. Use a trinket, a piece of candy, make a promise-- whatever gets the coin out of their hands. Then discreetly toss it into the underbrush. Your child won’t carry the onus of the Coin after trading it away. The downside is that you will. You touched it; you took possession of it for a short time. You aren’t the prey it wants, but by the laws that govern it, you’re still fair game. If a stranger approaches you or your child directly after you’ve thrown away a Greenwich Coin, don’t get ruffled. Stick to your travel plans and do not deviate. Don’t listen, don’t give them anything, do not confront. Pretend they aren’t even there. Trust me, if there’s ever been a tourist trap, con, or scam artist that you’d want to avoid, it’s this one. They’re after more than your wallet. Collectors, look. You’re going to be in the most trouble here. I’m sorry. I know it’ll really test your self-restraint when that Steel Wheat Cent or whatever turns up underfoot. Just keep in mind that the steeper the value of the coin, the deeper the shit you’re in if you grab it. Best thing you can do is kick it off the stairs to protect the next traveler who ventures along. A stranger will come for you if you’ve taken a Greenwich Coin. Usually it happens on the steps, but you can’t rule out the garden, the parking lot, or the tower grounds. Careful, because locals often go jogging up the Greenwich Steps, and sometimes the stranger will pose as just another jogger. It’s unnerving how fast it closes the distance. If being pursued, seek shelter in the popular mermaid-themed cafe near the bottom of the Steps. Yeah, I mean it. Order a drink you’ve ordered many times before-- that’s important, it helps. Trust me when I say this is better than the alternative. In the old days you’d need a church. A lot of travelers would fail to reach one in time. Now we have other options. Any place that is iconic, ritualized, and identical wherever you go can function as a sanctuary in a pinch. If you still have the Greenwich Coin on you, I’m sorry, but you have to drop it in the tip jar now. If you don’t, you’re going to need more help than a barista can provide. (If you are a barista working near the Greenwich Steps, don’t be alarmed. You’ve probably taken home a Greenwich Coin at least once, but it’s lost the power to hurt you. Ritual acts of selflessness are powerful like that). Here’s the thing about sanctuary: it’s temporary. The thing hunting you will have difficulty crossing the threshold, though, so once you’re in, you’ve got a brief grace period to work with. I have to admit, I’ve been that traveler feverishly searching the internet for advice while a cold drink sweats in my hand and a monstrosity paces outside. The last time this happened, it casually slid a finger along the window to distract me. It looked human. They often do. It was even pretending to talk on the phone. Or . . . thinking back, that phone call might’ve been real. Muffled, but I could still make out the words: “Quite close. Yes, it’s that one.” Said while arrhythmically tapping the glass in front of my head. Shit. I think I know who it called that day. Back on track: the thing coming after your Greenwich Coin might look like anyone. Could be that man in a business suit, or that woman in sweats. Whatever you’re most attracted to. And no, it’s not necessarily carnal attraction . . . although it could easily exploit that. No. It’s whatever best draws you astray. You involved in a niche hobby? Got a favorite show, a band, or a game you can’t resist talking about? It’ll paint itself in your stripes, sing out to you in a voice familiar. For me, it appeared as an older woman: denim jacket, bangles, sitting across the historic brick steps with one bare foot. She held her ankle as if it hurt. Her race and other details are not important. You shouldn’t expect any of that to be the same when it comes for you. I can’t say she reminded me of someone specific (I have suspicions). That tug of concern, though: I felt it, crisp as torn paper. The wind tugged silver hair about her shoulders as she called out. “Please, help me up?” Of course I knelt by her and asked what happened. Look, I’d read up on travel hazards before leaving home. No book, blog, or article ever warned me about a thing that doesn’t have its own face. Most travel guides deal in bog-standard reality. Which bus to catch, local eats, how much tickets cost. I had faith in my wits and good fortune. After all, I’d just picked up a rare nickel at the bottom of the Greenwich Steps. I’m not going to tell you the specific nickel, but it was good. The buy a house with cash kind. I’ve always wanted my own land. A place to call mine. You know what happens to your brain when you get hit with that kind of euphoria, jet-lagged in a strange city? Yeah. I was daydreaming up those steps. I offered the stranger my hand. She pointed up through the green canopy. I thought it meant she lived in one of the square-topped residential buildings on the other side. She leaned on me as she hobbled. I kept a few fingers free to cover the sling-bag containing my passport, phone, and all my money. Yeah, I thought myself quite clever for making sure no one could pick my pocket, even as the stranger literally led me up the garden path. “Here,” she said. The stair is steep, and most of it’s framed by safety rails. But there are gaps. She passed through one, still gripping my hand, and limped right into the humps of yellow sorrel and baby’s tears. I tried not to let her pull me off the stair. I made all the usual protests. I don’t think there’s a path here. Ma’am? I’m not comfortable doing this. Please, stop. Let go of my hand. Hey! She didn’t even look back. Her grip tightened, and she dragged me over the edge before I could scrabble for a handhold. I lurched. You know those dreams where something has grabbed you, and your attempts to struggle make no difference? You just flail, and the teeth sink deeper. Her nails bit into my hand. She stepped out of her remaining shoe and kicked it aside. Her limp was gone. We plunged under the myriad arms of an Angel’s Trumpet. That’s a tree you’ll see more than one of, here. The tined ivory blossoms whisked over my head and shoulders, dusting me in its sticky-sugar scent. I’ve hated that smell ever since. I fumbled my phone out of my travel bag with my free hand. But I unlocked it sloppy-- right into camera mode. The second try got me a transit map. Third: home screen. No signal. Don’t give up if you can’t get a signal. Emergency services might work anyway (might). But don’t squander your chance. I kept making false starts, hunched against the stranger’s pull. Everyone thinks they can dial for help as easy as 3-2-1. But you’d be surprised how wrong-handed you get in a crisis. You thumb open your work contacts, because that’s how you’re used to starting calls. Or you get as far as the keypad and mash the numbers in wrong. Ever had shaky hands? Just save emergency service lines into your phone. Even the easy ones. When I finally got a call out, it rang twice. The first trill was scratchy. The second slid off-pitch, as though falling into the distance. Then the call disconnected. The ground dipped. It shouldn’t have; we’d been going uphill in a steady, inexorable climb. A sylvan hollow spread before us. Ancient cedars and spruce repeated into the gloom, all festooned in lichen. Far off lay the mossy corpse of a tree-- where tourists and concrete should have been. Golden strings caught sun in its branches. Spider silk. There’s a primeval rainforest hidden between the shadows of the Greenwich Steps. Not a jungle. The cold kind, with evergreens and fog. The stranger flung me into it. My phone bounced out of my grip. I caught my footing, wheeling to face her. But she-- she inhaled her nose. Sucked it into her skull like it was made of tissue paper. Her eyes wrinkled and her head curled up. No blood. Bones collapsed, nothing but spider-skin. Arms and legs shriveled off. For a moment the clothing held together. Then it settled into a pile of sticky leaves and silk. Not even the denim was real. “You took my coin,” gasped the husk at my feet. “Now I shall exact the balance. My prize.” I stomped on it. I wear combat boots, and I kick hard. That thing should have died under my heel. Invisible fingers twined around my throat-- from behind me. “No arguments.” It’s voice still emanated from the webby mess on the ground, even as its unseen counterpart-- its other half? Its true form?-- nuzzled the back of my head with an appendage that humans lack. Does it hurt when something eats your name? I remember my legs shook. I know I begged it to stop, more than once. After the first sip, when you finally quicken to what’s happening, the physical discomfort just seems incidental. Let’s be clear: I don’t have amnesia. It wasn’t that surgical. That thing guzzled down every intonation, every sigh, every tag, award, shout, and signature. There was once a small corner of the world that knew me. A family. I had classmates, peers, a disappointing boss. Maybe I had a girlfriend. Or a boyfriend. I think I did. If you could somehow track them down, not a single one of them would know my name. Everywhere my name should be, there is nothing. Every instance of that identity is gone. The thing on the Greenwich Steps took it all. “Do you think you’ve paid enough to bear my currency?” it asked. I gibbered. “Yes. Yes, I’ve paid.” “So sure of your worth. Should you be? Your entire life so far is pennies to me.” Then it took my face. Afterward, I sprawled among the ferns. The leaves dripped. I could still see. That was the first thing I became conscious of. Watching dew slide through the moss. Then came rustling and croons overhead. It sounded like parrots. I slowly canted my head back. Trees came into focus. There they were, crowding a branch. Red masks, leafy bodies, flicking their heads left and right to study me. A wild flock of cherry-headed conures right in San Francisco. They are actually one of the features that draw tourists to the Greenwich Steps. I didn’t know that at the time, though. I wept in bewilderment at the parrots. Then I reached up to touch my face. It was gone. Just like reaching into a bag of static. I sat up with a jolt. Just a meter to my right: a long, red brick stair cut through the teeming vines. No sign of other people. Nor of my captor. I staggered down the Greenwich Steps. Maybe three hundred of them, one or two at a time, with all the grace of a dazed animal. I gripped the safety rail so hard it squeezed the blood out of my fingers. There was a coin on the second-to-last step. I stepped on it, then went back and kicked it away. I’m not ashamed to admit that I sobbed after that. Right next to the yellow sign that says Slippery When Wet. Yes, I still shed real tears. They appear like raindrops on my hands and shirt. It was a long walk back to my hotel to assess the damage. I passed dozens of people on the way. No one reacted as if anything were out of place. A man even nodded to me. I hesitated, wondering if he recognized me, if he could somehow help-- but it turned out he just wanted me to hurry on through the hotel doors so that he could go next. Up in my room, I discovered that my reflection now gives me vertigo and screaming fits-- unless I focus below the neck. Then it’s ok. My passport and driver’s license are not ok. Maybe it’s because both my name and face are supposed to be there. I can barely pick them up. I can’t look at them. Other people can, but I don’t think they actually perceive a specific name, face, or number. What they see, I’m not sure. Any time I present my signature (a line) or one of my ID, people just accept it. Routine, casual. But only if they don’t really try to look. They get upset if they really look. Early on, I insisted that a man check my passport. “Do you think the picture looks like me?” is what I actually asked. He nodded without looking at it. “Nice picture.” “What color are my eyes?” I asked. The man opened his mouth. Stopped. He blinked at the passport, then up at me, before he blanched and backed away. Fast. As if I’d flashed a weapon at him. “What’s wrong?” I was angry, I admit. Not at him. He was just some unlucky hotel staffer. I feel really bad about it, now, but I stalked after him, passport open in my hand like a bible. “Just tell me what my photo looks like. Is my signature legible?” “I don’t, I can’t--” he stammered, still backpedaling. “Just go away. Please, oh fuck. Fuck.” “Is my name easy to pronounce, John?” His sleek black nametag said John. John backed right into one of his coworkers, who winced. She addressed me stiffly. You know how people talk when they’re forced to handle a belligerent customer. “Is there something we can do for you . . . ” She got no further. Her customer service smile drained away and her gaze settled somewhere in the safety of the middle distance. Not alarmed, or anything. Not like John, who was still scrambling to put distance between us. I swept past the other staffer, still after John’s unsatisfactory answers. People were turning to stare at him by then. (Him. Not me). John ran himself into a large potted tree in the lobby. Probably left a bruise on his leg. “Don’t ask me that,” he begged. “I can’t look again. I can’t.” “Are you ok?” called one of the hotel guests, anxious. At that point, shame caught up with me. I folded my passport and broke eye contact. “I’m sorry.” The words came out rough, at first, but softened as my hope gave way. The pain in my chest dwindled into a brittle dry thing, like webby leaves. “Sorry for-- for asking you a confusing question. You were very helpful. John. It’s not your fault. You understand that? I’ll put in a good word for you.” Someone ran over to John. At first he didn’t answer any of their questions. Then he said that he lost his balance. “I don’t even know why. My heart’s racing. I’m so cold . . . ” I walked away. No one stopped me. I did glance back, once. Two people stood over John, who sat on the floor with his head cradled over his knees. He was shaking. Crying. One of the people near him was on the phone. I caught the word ambulance. I’ve since put colored tape on my passport and all my cards so I can identify them by just the edges. People rarely ask me for identification, though. It can happen if someone’s distracted when I approach. Oh. You’re probably curious what became of the coin. My lucky nickel. It’s gone. Or, pervasive. I have no idea where I used to bank, but now, it’s whatever bank I happen to walk into. My presence unsettles the tellers. They get antsy as soon as they have to ask for my account number. I can say any string of numbers that come to mind, and they punch it in. Once I just said, “I don’t know my account number.” The teller nodded and typed in . . . that, I guess. Their computers usually start to whirr with effort at that point. Sometimes the video advertisements in the background get screen-rips or flicker off. Another time, the casing on an overhead light cracked. The tellers ask if I want to make a withdrawal today, and when the drawer finally springs open, they can’t get rid of the coins fast enough. Yep. Banks never leave me empty-handed. All the coins in the drawer, all for me. Doesn’t matter what amount I request, what bills I specify. I walk out with pockets full of metal. I have asked after my account balance. But only twice. I swear, I was just curious. The first time, the teller covered his mouth, said, “Excuse me, I-- I don’t believe I can . . . Certainly, I’ll write it down for you.” His pen-hand trembled. I wondered if my account had somehow been filled to an impressive sum, since it took him so long to write. But the paper he slid across the counter had no numbers on it at all. It was an unintelligible scribble. I said thank you and the teller swayed on his feet. A bead of spittle formed at the side of his mouth. I asked him if he was ok, to which he started hyperventilating. I felt awful for that, and started to leave, but another teller took over. Stupidly, I slid the paper back across to her. The note with the jagged scribbles. I asked her if what was written on the paper matched the amount of money in my account. She stared at the note, frowning. Then at the computer. “Yngh . . .” When she spoke again, her voice came out hoarse, as if invisible fingers had crowded around her windpipe. She looked absolutely terrified. No eye-contact, of course. “Thank you . . . so much . . . for banking with us,” she told the air right next to me. The tip of her nose turned translucent grey. Bloodless. I did not like that at all. I bolted. Anyway, I prefer to use ATMs. It’s much easier to watch a machine clatter, churn, groan, or smoke (the smoke only happened once). I can insert my card, but if I’m not feeling up to handling my wallet, then I can usually get away with a tap-tap-tap on the machine chassis. ATMs always spit out coins for me. Most of them aren’t equipped to handle coinage, of course. So there’s a lot of digging, wrenching, and groping involved on my part. I’ve had enough practice now that I can tickle out a few bills as well. I don’t think I’m technically supposed to do that, but when I poke around and a chewed-up benjamin crams itself between my fingers, I get the sense the ATM is equally pissed off about the rules. I understand, given what it must endure to deliver what I’m owed. I try not to bother the same machine more than once. Yeah, I regret the one that started smoking. There was a line of customers behind me, too. I accidentally hit the green button when it prompted me for a receipt. The screen flashed. for(; ;){ ẅ̶̛̠̖́̀ẻ̶̟̊̍r̶̗̔e̸͉̤̊͊g̵̫̰̜͌ì̵̠̚l̴̨͘d̶̢̲̭̐̅͘ } Carbon paper erupted from the horizontal slot by the card reader. It was covered in more of the same, but with the text blown out in soot. The machine began to squeal as more and more receipt paper ribboned out of it. Smoke puffed from the inbuilt security camera pointed at my face, and the lens shattered. Then alarms went off inside the bank, mechanical wails overlapping. Anyway, the fire department put the automated teller out of its misery before too much of the building was damaged. I watched it go down from a safer distance: a sticky red bench at the muni stop. When a bus pulled up and hissed open, my hands were still shaking. I reached into my pockets and annoyed the driver by dropping coin after coin while I tried to count out the cost of my ticket. Envious of my endless money? If you haven’t figured it out already, the boon of the coin doesn’t make you rich. I survived the early days thanks to what was already in my travel-bag. Of course, I then multiplied my very good fortune by going back to the Greenwich Steps. It was hunting. Yes, for whatever reason, it stood out to me at once. I caught it pretending to photograph bees with a blocky vintage camera. Just a man in a fleece sweater, digesting my name in his belly. A gaggle of European tourists crowded down the steps between us, drawing that hungry gaze around to follow, until he looked past them and noticed me. He sauntered down the steps, pausing just before the landing where I had (effectively) cornered myself. At this point, my brain cells jump-started. This honey-eyed, fatherly figure made the perfect counterpart to the woman in denim. He wasn’t ambushing any European tourists in that face. (What they saw when they passed him, I don’t know). This face, this specific face, was just for me. “Your expression right now,” he chuckled. He raised the camera and snapped my portrait. Click. Flash. The camera whirred, and a glossy square of film slid out of the bottom. He removed the film and shook it gently in the dappled light. He looked me steadily in the eye as he did it, too. “The answer is no.” “What?” my voice broke on the way out. “No, you can’t have back what you traded away, you greedy thing. That is what you’re here to demand, isn’t it? Unless you come to me with a separate deal.” He smiled. Took the final, languid step down to my platform. He wore both shoes today. “Though,” he continued, “I question whether you fully apprehend the deal you’ve already struck. You do understand that what I took, I ate? There’s no stuffing life back in the bird after you’ve chopped its head off and fried its legs for dinner.” “Who are you?” I asked. He loomed before me, smelling of Angel’s Trumpets. The white square in his hand had begun to transform into a photograph, thin shapes spreading over the surface and tarnishing with color. “Oh, if you beheld my face you’d fall in seven pieces, little pie. Pronouncing my name would burn all other words out of your skull. My sword pierces the Invisible Hand and tilts the scales. E pluribus unum is what I am. I am an American miracle.” Close enough. I blew his knee out with my heel. Bone snapped like stick. Pigeons startled off the nearest rooftop. From him, just a wet gasp as he collapsed, eyes rolling up. Then I kicked him down the stairs. His body tumbled around and down. Skull crunched on brick: spatter-sap. A leg bent the wrong way around a metal post. The sweater unspooled. Cobweb, hairy twigs (legs?), and spore clung to the stair in his wake. Ex uno, detritus, I thought to myself. Now you are mulch and smear of insect. The vintage camera lay busted at my feet. Must have been the real thing. Looted off another victim, no doubt. Which meant that he’d taken a real picture of me. Even in my fury, I couldn’t entirely wall off the questions pooling in a corner of my heart. The thing had to be stronger than this, surely. I still had five crescent-shaped marks in my hand, from when I had dangled in the grasp of the denim woman. I followed it down. I was unable to look directly at it-- at the spindly, many-jointed thing hatching like a mayfly out of the sweater-man’s skin. Have to wonder if it meant what it said, earlier: about splitting into pieces if you ever saw it for real. By the time I reached the vacant husk, it no longer resembled a human at all. It was a cocoon of rushes and grass, shredded down the back as easy as newspaper in the rain. (If you’re curious, the photograph of me was conspicuously absent. Guess it got nabbed). “So, how does this usually go?” I asked it. “Do your treats just hobble off and die nameless? No customer complaints at the corporate office?” “Sometimes they come back, as you did.” The words drifted from the discarded body, rather than the thing itself (wherever it was). Two dandelion clocks stood where sweater-man used to have eyes. His broken-bark jaw hung open in a permanent grimace against the brick. “My worshippers.” “They worship you?” “Call me Prosperity. Call me Profit. I’m your only hope of either, now. Don’t worry, I drive a reasonable deal for the desperate.” “I’m not-- I don’t want anything from you.” “For now, yes. You wrung more out of me than most. That face-- mm, well worth silver. It may be some time before you come back to feed me.” I stepped on what used to be sweater-man’s neck. It hissed-- but not in pain, as I first thought. It was laughing. “You should know that no matter how far you wander, I’ll always recognize you. By taste, if nothing else.” Something that was not fingers flicked the nape of my neck. Yeah, here’s a travel tip for you: when a freshly-molted greedfly kisses the back of your neck, run. I sure as fuck ran. For three nights after that, I dreamt I was lost in a crowd. No one knew me. No one could help. No, I wasn’t just lost. I had to find someone, to warn them-- but flies kept trying to crawl into my mouth. Travelers, turn your attention to the Embarcadero. Late afternoon, cusp of evening. A throng of brightly-dressed tourists. Yes, just like my dreams. My pockets swelled with coin. Money is so damned heavy. You forget about that when it’s just a number chained to your name. You forget how important a name is. I let the crowd eddy me into the Ferry Building. The inside: a golden medley of ways to spend too much money. I was exhausted. My nose-- my . . . sense of smell drew me into an artisanal bakery, and then to the famed local coffee with the alliterative name. This stuff is not brewed under the sign of the mermaid. I ordered a small. Eating and drinking works just fine if I don’t overthink it. Even so, I spill things down my shirt as often as I get a bite in. I lost half a croissant right outside of a charming bookstore. But the espresso shot through me like a bullet train to full daylight. Despite the darkening sky, I woke all the way up. Shook off my woes, all that. Espresso nuts, I think you’d like this stuff. Cup in hand, I wandered the broad arcade with, shall we say, new eyes. I peered at tote bags stamped by Golden Gates, wire-stand postcards, kitchen keepsakes, exfoliants with rare ingredients, all the usual. Then I glimpsed a yellow shirt and a beat-up traveler’s backpack bobbing ahead of me toward the dock. That one. Espresso and cream stung my hand as I hastened after the shirt of yellow. Why? Call it a compulsion, a deep lizard-brain directive. Yeah. I just didn’t want this one to end in flies. I caught up just outside the ferry terminal. We weren’t alone: a line was already forming for the next crossing. The man in the yellow shirt stood by the ticket machines. He swigged from a water bottle and wiped his mouth. Something bad was about to happen. I knew it like a wild animal senses earthquake, impending. I followed his gaze to a wooden sign, hand-painted and hung right next to the ticket machines. It offered Private Boat Tour, Sunset! Just minutes from now. The curves of each s were bigger on top than on bottom. An arrow pointed away into the gathering dusk. Yellow Shirt teetered for a moment, then spun to follow it. When I glanced back at the wooden sign, it was gone. Nothing left but a faint imprint of grease on the wall. The certainty hit me as hard as the coffee, but equal and opposite. I didn’t know what laid the trap, or what he’d suffer after he was lured in. Just that my fellow traveler was about to fall down a hole there was no climbing out of. Strings of his life yanked out, snapped. Maybe worse. He was alone, like I had been. I ran, pockets jingling and slapping (damn it) to catch up. “Hey. Sir, sir?” He strode ten more steps before he could no longer pretend I was talking to anyone else. The look he cast over his shoulder was annoyed. But at least he stopped. “I don’t have money for you. Well, maybe a little.” He jammed a hand into crusty jeans and fished out a blackened nickel. He plopped it right into the dregs of my coffee. God, fucking da-- whatever. “Thanks, man.” I made an effort to sound thankful. Then I blurted, “That tour’s a rip-off. Go back and catch the ferry. It’s the only safe water-crossing tonight.” “Um. What?” he squinted at me. I backed away, averting my eyes. With any luck, he would see something normal-adjacent where my face was supposed to be. “Don’t miss the ferry,” I warned him. “Don’t stray. Go straight back where you belong. And then call someone and tell them where you are.” After a silence that lasted too long, the man adjusted his backpack. He didn’t look happy. To be specific, he looked as if he’d just glimpsed a nightmare enfleshed. One of his knees started trembling. “Right on.” His voice came out an octave shriller. He seemed weirdly reluctant to turn his back on me, but after stumbling back a few steps he wheeled around. I watched him go all the way back to join the ferry queue. He walked much faster than before. Ran, actually. (The water bottle fell out of his backpack as he sprinted away, keening between each gasp of air). I meandered the pier for a while, after. At one point, a seal broke the surface of the sea. Its dark head bobbed on the waves. Watching me? Harbor seals nose around here from time to time. Especially outside waterfront seafood restaurants. But this . . . this was not that. The back of my neck prickled. Its head was too narrow, its jaws the wrong shape. It had no eyes, but it kept pace with me as I walked. I got it, then. Yellow Shirt. I had cut loose its prey. I stopped, my heart struggling like a moth under a claw. It slipped back under. The water chopped violently in its wake. I shuddered. Yeah, I don’t plan on napping on the beach anytime soon. No boat rides, either. But when you do, that blind gaze promised. Oh, right. You should probably hear this now: every famous landmark has a snare set just for you. It makes a kind of sense, doesn’t it? Everyone wants to trap tourists. But there are traps not laid by human hands, and the cost of falling into them can’t be paid out of your wallet. What I lost, I can’t replace. What I gained in return-- I’m still figuring out. The least I can do is warn people. I have to, actually. We’ll get to that. For now, I’m avoiding the sea. --the Blacknickel Guide Part two: forthcoming
In 2007 a Jewish Book Week took place less than two weeks before the anniversary of Karl Marx's death (14 March) and within a short walking distance of the place with which he is most closely associated in London, the Round Reading Room of the British Museum. Two very different socialists, Jacques Attali and I, were there to pay our posthumous respects to him. And yet, when you consider the occasion and the date, this was doubly unexpected. One cannot say Marx died a failure in 1883, because his writings had begun to make an impact in Germany and especially among intellectuals in Russia, and a movement led by his disciples was already on the way to cap- turing the German labour movement. But in 1883 there was little enough to show for his life's work. He had written some brilliant pamphlets and the torso of an uncompleted major piece, Das Kapital, work on which hardly advanced in the last decade of his life. 'What works?' he asked bitterly when a visitor questioned him about his works. His major political effort since the failure of the 1848 revolution, the so-called First International of 1864-73, had foundered. He had established no place of significance in the politics or the intellectual life of Britain, where he lived for over half his life as an exile. And yet, what an extraordinary posthumous success! Within twenty-five years of his death the European working-class political parties founded in his name, or which acknowledged his inspiration, had between 15% and 47% of the vote in countries with democratic elections - Britain was the only exception. After 1918 most of them became parties of government, not only of opposition, and remained so after the end of fascism, but most of them then became anxious to disclaim their origi- nal inspiration. All of them are still in existence. Meanwhile disciples of Marx established revolutionary groups in non-democratic and third-world countries. Seventy years after Marx's death, one third of the human race lived under regimes ruled by communist parties which claimed to represent his ideas and realise his aspirations. Well over 20% still do, though their ruling parties have, with minor exceptions, dramatically changed their policies. In short, if one thinker left a major indelible mark on the twentieth century, it was he. Walk into Highgate cemetery, where a nineteenth-century Marx and Spencer - Karl Marx and Herbert Spencer - are buried, curiously enough within sight of each other's grave. When both were alive, Herbert was the acknowledged Aristotle of the age, Karl a guy who lived on the lower slopes of Hampstead on his friend's money. Today nobody even knows Spencer is there, while elderly pilgrims from Japan and India visit Karl Marx's grave and exiled Iranian and Iraqi communists insist on being buried in his shade. The era of communist regimes and mass communist parties came to an end with the fall of the USSR, for even where they survive, as in China and in India, in practice they have abandoned the old project of Leninist Marxism. And when it did, Karl Marx found himself once again in no-man's land. Communism had claimed to be his only true heir, and his ideas had been largely identified with it. For even the dissident Marxist or Marxist-Leninist tendencies that established a few footholds here and there after Khrushchev denounced Stalin in 1956 were almost certainly ex-communist breakaways. So, for most of the first twenty years after the centenary of his death, he became strictly yesterday's man and no longer worth bothering about. Some journalist has even suggested that this discussion tonight is trying to rescue him from 'the dustbins of history'. Yet today Marx is, once again, very much a thinker for the twenty-first century. I don't think too much should be made of a BBC poll that showed British radio listeners voting him the greatest of all philosophers, but if you type his name into Google he remains the largest of the great intellectual presences, exceeded only by Darwin and Einstein, but well ahead of Adam Smith and Freud. There are, in my view, two reasons for this. The first is that the end of the official Marxism of the USSR liberated Marx from public identification with Leninism in theory and with the Leninist regimes in practice. It became quite clear that there were still plenty of good reasons to take account of what Marx had to say about the world. And notably - this is the second reason — because the globalised capitalist world that emerged in the 1 990s was in crucial ways uncannily like the world anticipated by Marx in the Communist Manifesto. This became clear in the public reaction to the 150th anniversary of this astonishing little pamphlet in 1998 - which was, incidentally, a year of dramatic upheaval in the global economy. Paradoxically, this time it was the capitalists and not the socialists who rediscovered him: the socialists were too discouraged to make much of this anniversary. I recall my amazement when I was approached by the editor of the inflight magazine of United Airlines, 80% of whose readers must be American business travellers. I'd written a piece on the Manifesto; he thought his readers would be interested in a debate on the Manifesto, and could he use something from my piece? I was even more amazed when, at lunch some time around the turn of the century, George Soros asked me what I thought of Marx. Knowing how widely our views differed, I wanted to avoid an argument so I gave an ambiguous answer. 'That man,' said Soros, 'discovered something about capitalism 150 years ago that we must take notice of And so he had. Soon after that writers who had never, so far as I am aware, been communists began to look at him again seriously, as in Jacques Attali's new life and study of Marx. Attali also thinks Karl Marx has much left to say to those who want the world to be a different and better society from the one we have today. It is good to be reminded that even from this point of view we need to take account of Marx today. By October 2008, when the London Financial Times published its headline 'Capitalism in Convulsion', there could no longer be any doubt that he was back on the public scene. While global capitalism is undergoing its greatest disruption and crisis since the early 1930s, he is unlikely to make his exit from it. On the other hand, the Marx of the twenty-first century will almost certainly be very different from the Marx of the twentieth. What people thought about Marx in the last century was dominated by three facts. The first was the division between countries in which revolution was on the agenda and those in which it wasn't, i.e. - speaking very broadly - the countries of developed capitalism in the North Atlantic and Pacific regions and the rest. The second fact follows from the first: Marx's her- itage naturally bifurcated into a social-democratic and reformist heritage and a revolutionary heritage, overwhelmingly dominated by the Russian Revolution. This became clear after 1917 because of the third fact: the collapse of nineteenth-century capitalism and nineteenth-century bourgeois society into what I have called the Age of Catastrophe', between, say, 1914 and the late 1940s. That crisis was so severe as to make many doubt whether capitalism could recover. Was it not destined to be replaced by a socialist economy, as the far from Marxist Joseph Schumpeter predicted in the 1940s? In fact capitalism did recover, but not in its old form. At the same time in the USSR a socialist alternative appeared to be immune to breakdown. Between 1929 and 1960 it did not seem unreasonable, even to many non-socialists who disapproved of the political side of these regimes, to believe that capitalism was running out of steam and the USSR was proving that it might outproduce it. In the year of Sputnik this did not sound absurd. That it was, became abundantly evident after 1960. These events and their implications for policy and theory belong to the period after Marx's and Engels' death. They lie beyond the range of Marx's own experience and assessments. Our judgement of twentieth-century Marxism is not based on the thinking of Marx himself, but on posthumous interpretations or revisions of his writing. At most we can claim that in the later 1890s, during what was the first intellectual crisis of Marxism, the first generation of Marxists, those who had been in personal contact with Marx, or more likely with Frederick Engels, were already beginning to discuss some of the issues that became relevant in the twentieth century, notably revisionism, imperialism and nationalism. Much of later Marxist discussion is specific to the twentieth century and not to be found in Karl Marx, notably the debate on what a socialist economy could or should actually be like, which emerged largely out of the experience of the war economies of 1914—18 and the post-war quasi-revolutionary or revolutionary crises. Thus the claim that socialism was superior to capitalism as a way to ensure the most rapid development of the forces of production could hardly have been made by Marx. It belongs to the era when inter-war capitalist crisis confronted the USSR of the Five-Year plans. Actually, what Karl Marx claimed was not that capitalism had reached the limits of its capacity to boost the forces of production, but that the jagged rhythm of capitalist growth produced periodic crises of overproduction which would, sooner or later, prove incompatible with a capitalist way of running the economy and generate social conflicts which it would not survive. Capitalism was by its nature incapable of framing the subsequent economy of social production. This, he supposed, would necessarily be socialist. Hence it is not surprising that 'socialism' was at the core of twentieth-century debates and assessments of Karl Marx. This was not because the project of a socialist economy is specifically Marxist - it isn't - but because all Marxist-inspired parties shared such a project and the communist ones actually claimed to have instituted it. In its twentieth-century form this project is dead. 'Socialism' as applied in the USSR and the other 'cenrally planned economies', that is to say theoretically marketless state-owned and controlled command economies, has gone and will not be revived. Social-democratic aspirations to build socialist economies had always been ideals for the future, but even as formal aspirations they had been abandoned by the end of the century. How much of the model of socialism in the minds of social democrats, and the socialism established by communist regimes, was Marxian? Here it is crucial that Marx himself deliberately abstained from specific statements about the economics and economic institutions of socialism and said nothing about the concrete shape of communist society except that it could not be constructed or programmed, but would evolve out of a socialist society Such general remarks as he made on the subject, as in the Critique of the Gotha Programme of the German social democrats, hardly gave his successors specific guidance, and indeed these gave no serious thought to what they considered would be an academic problem or a Utopian exercise until after the revolution. It was enough to know that it would be based — to quote the famous 'clause 4' of the Labour Party's constitution - 'on the common ownership of the means of production' which was generally understood as achievable by nationalising the country's industries. Curiously enough, the first theory of a centralised socialist economy was not worked out by socialists but by a non-socialist Italian economist, Enrico Barone, in 1908. Nobody else thought about it before the question of nationalising private industries came on the agenda of practical politics at the end of the First World War. At that point socialists faced their problems quite unprepared and without guidance from the past or anyone else. 'Planning' is implicit in any kind of socially managed economy, but Marx said nothing concrete about it, and when it was tried in Soviet Russia after the revolution it had largely to be improvised. Theoretically this was done by devising concepts (such as Leontief 's input-output analysis) and providing the relevant statistics. These devices were later to be widely taken up in non-socialist economies. In practice it was done by following the equally improvised war economies of World War One, especially the German one, perhaps with special attention to the electrical industry about which Lenin was informed by political sympathisers among executives in German and American elec- trical firms. A war economy remained the basic model of the Soviet planned economy, that is to say an economy where certain targets are fixed in advance — ultra-speedy industrialisa- tion, winning a war, making an atom-bomb or getting men on the moon - and then plans to achieve them by allocating resources whatever the short-term cost. There is nothing exclusively socialist about this. Working towards a priori targets may be done with more or less sophistication, but the Soviet econ- omy never really got beyond this. And, though it tried from 1960 on, it could never get out of the catch-22 implicit in trying to fit markets into a bureaucratic command structure. Social democracy modified Marxism in a different way either by postponing the construction of a socialist economy or, more positively, by devising different forms of a mixed economy. Insofar as social-democratic parties remained committed to the creation of a fully socialist economy, this implied some thought about the subject. The most interesting thinking came from non-Marxist thinkers like the Fabians Sidney and Beatrice Webb, who envisaged a gradual transformation of capitalism to socialism by a series of irreversible and cumulative reforms and who therefore gave some political thought to the institutional shape of socialism, though none to its economic operations. The chief Marxian 'revisionist', Eduard Bernstein, finessed the problem by insisting that the reformist movement was every- thing and the final aim had no practical reality. In fact, most social-democratic parties which became parties of government after World War One settled for the revisionist policy, in effect leaving the capitalist economy to operate subject to meeting some of the demands of labour. The locus classicus of this attitude was Anthony Crosland's The Future of Socialism (1956), which argued that as post- 1 945 capitalism had solved the problem of producing a society of plenty, public enterprise (in the classical form of nationalisation or otherwise) was not necessary and the only task of socialists was to ensure an equitable distribution of the national wealth. All this was a long way from Marx, and indeed from the traditional socialist vision of socialism as essentially a non-market society, which probably Karl Marx also shared. Let me just add that the more recent debate between economic neo-liberals and their critics about the role of the state and publicly owned enterprises is not a specifically Marxist or even socialist debate in principle. It rests on the attempt since the 1970s to translate a pathological degeneration of the prin- ciple of laissez-faire into economic reality by the systematic retreat of states from any regulation or control of the activities of profit-making enterprise. This attempt to hand over human society to the (allegedly) self-controlling and wealth- or even welfare-maximising market, populated (allegedly) by actors in rational pursuit of their interests, had no precedent in any ear- lier phase of capitalist development in any developed economy, not even the USA. It was a reductio ad absurdum of what its ideologists read into Adam Smith, as the correspondingly extremist 100% state-planned command economy of the USSR was of what the Bolsheviks read into Marx. Not surprisingly, this 'market fundamentalism', closer to theology than economic reality, also failed. The disappearance of the centrally planned state economies and the virtual disappearance of a fundamentally transformed society from the aspirations of the demoralised social-democratic parties have eliminated much of the twentieth-century debates on socialism. They were some way from Karl Marx's own thinking, though very largely inspired by him and conducted in his name. On the other hand, in three respects Marx remained an enormous force: as an economic thinker, as a his- torical thinker and analyst, and as the recognised founding father (with Durkheim and Max Weber) of modern thinking about society. I am unqualified to express an opinion on his continued, but clearly serious, significance as a philosopher. Certainly what never lost contemporary relevance is Marx's vision of capitalism as a historically temporary mode of the human economy and his analysis of its ever-expanding and concentrating, crisis-generating and self-transforming modus operandi. What is the relevance of Marx in the twenty-first century? The Soviet-type model of socialism - the only attempt to build a socialist economy so far - no longer exists. On the other hand there has been an enormous and accelerating progress of globalisation and the sheer wealth-generating capacity of humans. This has reduced the power and scope of economic and social action by nation-states and therefore the classical policies of social-democratic movements, which depended primarily on pressing reforms on national governments. Given the prominence of market fundamentalism it has also generated extreme economic inequality within countries and between regions and brought back the element of catastrophe to the basic cyclical rhythm of the capitalist economy, including what became its most serious global crisis since the 1930s. Our productive capacity has made it possible, at least potentially, for most human beings to move from the realm of necessity into the realm of affluence, education and unimagined life choices, although most of the world's population have yet to enter it. Yet for most of the twentieth century socialist movements and regimes still operated essentially within this realm of necessity even in the rich countries of the West where a society of popular affluence emerged in the twenty post-1945 years. However, in the realm of affluence the aim of adequate food, clothing, housing, jobs to provide income and a welfare system to protect people against the hazards of life, though necessary, is no longer a sufficient programme for socialists. A third development is negative. As the spectacular expansion of the global economy has undermined the environment, the need to control unlimited economic growth has become increasingly urgent. There is a patent conflict between the need to reverse or at least to control the impact of our economy on the biosphere and the imperatives of a capitalist market: maximum continuing growth in the search for profit. This is the Achilles heel of capitalism. We cannot at present know whose arrow will be fatal to it. So how are we to see Karl Marx today? As a thinker for all humanity and not only for a part of it? Certainly. As a philosopher? As an economic analyst? As a founding father of modern social science and guide to the understanding of human history? Yes, but the point about him which Attali has rightly emphasised is the universal comprehensiveness of his thought. It is not 'interdisciplinary' in the conventional sense but integrates all disciplines. As Attali writes, 'Philosophers before him have thought of man in his totality, but he was the first to apprehend the world as a whole which is at once political, economic, scientific and philosophical.' It is perfectly obvious that much of what he wrote is out of date, and some of it is not or no longer acceptable. It is also evident that his writings do not form a finished corpus but are, like all thought that deserves the name, an endless work in progress. Nobody is any longer going to turn it into a dogma, let alone an institutionally buttressed orthodoxy This would certainly have shocked Marx himself. But we should also reject the idea that there is a sharp difference between a 'correct' and an 'incorrect' Marxism. His mode of enquiry could produce different results and political perspectives. Indeed it did so with Marx himself, who envisaged a possible peaceful transition to power in Britain and the Netherlands, and the possible evolution of the Russian village community into socialism. Kautsky and even Bernstein were heirs of Marx as much (or, if you like, as little) as Plekhanov and Lenin. For this reason I am sceptical of Attali's distinction between a true Marx and a series of subsequent simplifiers or falsifiers of his thought - Engels, Kautsky, Lenin. It was as legitimate for the Russians, the first attentive readers of Capital, to see his theory as a way for moving countries like theirs from backwardness to modernity through economic development of the Western type as it was for Marx himself to speculate whether a direct transition to socialism could not take place on the basis of the Russian village commune. Probably, if anything, it was more in line with the general run of Karl Marx's own thought. The case against the Soviet experiment was not that socialism could only be constructed after the whole world had first gone capitalist, which is not what Marx said, or can be firmly claimed to have believed. It was empirical. It was that Russia was too backward to produce anything other than a caricature of a socialist society - 'a Chinese empire in red' as Plekhanov is said to have warned. In 1917 this would have been the overwhelming consensus of all Marxists, including even most Russian Marxists. On the other hand the case against the so-called 'Legal Marxists' of the 1890s, who took the Attali view that the main job of Marxists was to develop a flourishing industrial capitalism in Russia, was also empirical. A liberal capitalist Russia wouldn't come about either under tsarism. And yet a number of central features of Marx's analysis remain valid and relevant. The first, obviously, is the analysis of the irresistible global dynamic of capitalist economic development and its capacity to destroy all that came before it, including even those parts of the heritage of the human past from which capitalism had itself benefited, such as family structures. The second is the analysis of the mechanism of capitalist growth by generating internal 'contradictions' - endless bouts of tensions and temporary resolutions, growth leading to crisis and change, all producing economic concentration in an increasingly globalised economy. Mao dreamed of a society constantly renewed by unceasing revolution; capitalism has realised this project by historical change through what Schumpeter (following Marx) called unending 'creative destruction'. Marx believed that this process would eventually lead - it would have to lead — to an enormously concentrated economy - which is exactly what Attali meant when he said in a recent interview that the number of people who decide what happens in it is of the order of 1,000, or at most 10,000. This Marx believed would lead to the supersession of capitalism, a prediction that still sounds plausible to me but in a different way from what Marx anticipated. On the other hand, his prediction that it would take place by the 'expropriation of the expropriators' through a vast proletariat leading to socialism was not based on his analysis of the mechanism of capitalism, but on separate a priori assumptions. At most it was based on the prediction that industrialisation would produce populations largely employed as manual wage- workers, as was happening in England at the time. This was correct enough as a middle-range prediction, but not, as we know, in the long term. Nor, after the 1840s, did Marx and Engels expect it to produce the politically radicalising pauperisation that they hoped for. As was obvious to both, large sections of the proletariat were not getting poorer in any absolute sense. Indeed, an American observer of the solidly proletarian congresses of the German Social Democratic Party in the 1900s observed that the comrades there looked 'a loaf or two above poverty'. On the other hand, the evident growth of economic inequality between different parts of the world and between classes does not necessarily produce Marx's 'expropriation of the expropriators'. In short, hopes for the future were read into his analysis but did not derive from it. The third is best put in the words of the late Sir John Hicks, an economics Nobel laureate. 'Most of those who wish to fit into place a general course of history' he wrote, 'would use the Marxist categories or some modified version of them, since there is little in the way of alternative versions that is available.' We cannot foresee the solutions of the problems facing the world in the twenty-first century, but if they are to have a chance of success they must ask Marx's questions, even if they do not wish to accept his various disciples' answers.
university has new programs called concentrations and im lost on what to do
hello! so im a junior in college and last year my uni introduced new programs called concentrations. so what are concentrations? it basically removes 4 ise xxx electives and let me take the 4 courses that are in the concentrations, however, to take it i have to forego a 7 month internship in favor of a 2 month-long one but that will actually let me graduate earlier! so what concentrations are available? well, as an ise student i have 4 choices of concentrations and they are 1.robotics and autonomous systems
This interdisciplinary program covers subjects related to mechatronics, robotics, and UAVs (drones). Students develop the skills required to understand, design, and implement smart systems and robots to solve engineering problems. Topics include the fundamentals of autonyms systems, including sensing, reasoning, and acting, in addition to robotics-specific topics, such as power sources, machine vision, actuation (e.g. linear actuators and electric motors), manipulation, locomotion (walking, rolling, climbing, etc.), environmental navigation, and human-robot interaction (including speech recognition and gestures). Applications are wide-ranging, and include industrial robots, as well as those used in the military, construction, agriculture, and in medical fields.
2.data science
This interdisciplinary program focuses on the analysis and handling of data from multiple sources and for various applications in order to draw inferences from it, combining topics from mathematics, statistics, and computer science. These topics include probability theory, inference, least-square estimation, maximum likelihood estimation, finding local and global optimal solutions (gradient descent, genetic algorithms, etc.), and generalized additive models. It also covers machine learning topics such as classification, conditional probability estimation, clustering, and dimensionality reduction (e.g. discriminant factor and principal component analyses), and decision support systems. The program also covers big data analysis, including big data collection, preparation, preprocessing, warehousing, interactive visualization, analysis, scrubbing, mining, management, modeling, and tools such as Hadoop, Map-Reduce, Apache Spark, etc.
3.process safety
This interdisciplinary program aims to produce students with the fundamental knowledge and skills necessary to be qualified safety engineers. Graduates of this program learn the principles of process safety and hazards analysis, mitigation, and prevention, with special emphasis on the chemical process industries. Topics include source modeling for leakage rates, dispersion analysis, relief valve sizing, fire and explosion damage analysis, hazards identification, risk analysis, accident investigation, occupational safety, safety administration, legal aspect of industrial safety, hazardous waste management and treatment, including regulations, environmental audits, and pollution prevention. Students also learn the assessment and management of risk, uncertainty, and reliability, including quantitative risk assessment, and understanding the link between safety and human factors.
4.computational material and modeling
Computational Materials is a relatively new and rapidly evolving strongly interdisciplinary subject that brings together elements from various disciplines of science and engineering. This concentration studies the interrelation between the structure and properties of materials, which is at the heart of understanding material behavior at a range of different length and time scales. Topics include Monte Carlo simulation, Markov chains, random walks, stochastic systems (e.g. Brownian dynamics), and continuous phase transitions in lattices. The program also covers atomistic simulations, including molecular dynamics simulations and density functional theory, as well as applications in, catalysis, nanomaterials, alloy design, corrosion inhibitors, and 3D printing. Other topics include material informatics, e.g. machine learning (statistical learning, regression, classification, unsupervised learning, etc.) and its application in materials selection for engineering design and multi-scale modeling.
i can provide the list of every concentration's 4 courses if you want. im really lost on what to do as i love economics and supply chains and like statistics and programming, i hate physics and calculus on the other hand. i would really love to hear some insights about what you think as way more experienced individuals in the field. thank you so much!
Risk-Based Inspection (RBI) for improved Safety Integrity System by NIFS
At a rough estimate, 10% of the equipment in a plant contributes 90% of the risk. Therefore, if this 10% of the equipment is identified, testing and inspection activities can be focused meaningfully, rather than wasting effort on low-risk items. This results in improved safety; fewer forced failures, and reduced operational costs Inspection normally include routine and preventative maintenance developed to reduce the risk but RBI is intended to reduce the operating risk of process plant, Provide strategies to achieve desired level of mechanical integrity (MI) and reliability of the plant. Inspection should therefore be a proactive, strategic planning process focused on the risk factors that impact safety, reliability and integrity, as well as performance and profitability. Risk based inspection (RBI) assists industry and considered as the best practice for Plant integrity management. RBI assists the safety managers, site inspectors and others involved in industrial risk assessment. The RBI methodology combines risk assessment and risk management techniques with inspection activities, such as planning, inspecting, documentation and data analysis, to develop inspection plans that govern inspections toward the areas of highest risk. Risk-Based Inspection (RBI) is an inspection method that requires qualitative or quantitative assessment of the probability of failure (PoF) and the consequence of failure (CoF) associated with each equipment item, structural components, piping circuits included, in a particular process unit. The risk level for a particular piece of equipment is determined by calculating the PoF together with the Consequence of Failure (CoF), Probability of Failure (PoF) is likelihood that equipment or a system will fail at a given time which makes up an important part of effective risk analyses. PoF is half of the equation when determining risk as part of Risk Based Inspection (RBI) methodology. Probability of Failure (PoF) x Consequence of Failure (CoF) = Risk. Consequence of Failure (CoF) is another part of the equation to determine risk as part of Risk Based Inspection (RBI) method. CoF is calculated by categorizing the potential consequences for the equipment, personnel, environment, etc. in case of any equipment/ system failure. The risk of failure combines the probability of failure with a measure of the consequences of that failure. Then the risk is defined as the product of the probability of failure rate and the measured consequence, when evaluated numerically. RBI schemes can be broadly divided into two types: those that rely predominantly on qualitative methods and incorporate probabilistic methods / quantitative). Qualitative methods are more common than quantitative methods. Quantitatively, the RBI programme is a hybrid technique between risk analysis and mechanical integrity. In its elemental form, a risk analysis is comprised of five tasks:
System definition
Hazard identification
Consequence assessment
Probability assessment
Risk results.
CAUSES OF FAILURE Root causes of failure include:
faulty design,
material defects,
processing errors,
assembly or installation defects,
maintenance deficiencies
Improper operation.
Corrosion and Erosion
External Loading
Impact
Pressure
Temperature
Wrong Equipment
Defective Equipment and
Human Error
Risk Based Inspection involves planning, implementation and evaluation of examinations to determine the physical and mechanical integrity of equipment or a structural integrity in terms of fitness-for-service (FFS). Examination methods include visual surveys and NDT techniques designed to detect the defects, such as ultrasonic testing and radiography. The inspection programme is intended to reduce the risk by establishing the steps like: 1) What type of damage to look for. 2) Where to look for damage. 3) How to look for damage. 4) When to look for damage. Risk-Based Inspection involves planning, implementation and evaluation of examinations to determine the physical and mechanical integrity of equipment or structural integrity in terms of fitness-for-service (FFS). Examination methods include visual surveys and NDT techniques designed to detect the defects, such as ultrasonic testing and radiography. rt of Risk-Based Inspection (RBI) methodology.ogy.ty and integrity, as well as performance and profitability.le.any.ers, changes in operating condition, injection of corrosion inhibition chemicals, etc. RBI Inspection covers the following equipments:
Pressure Vessels
Piping systems
Storage Tanks
Pressure Relief Valves
Rotating Equipment
Heat Exchangers
Implementing an RBI Program Implementation of an RBI program normally requires a competent multi-disciplinary team. The team needs to have the right mix of knowledge and experience and normally the team members are from five core disciplines:-
RBI team study Facilitator (RBI and Fitness-for-Service assessment expertise)
Inspection Engineer
Plant Mechanical (or Maintenance) Engineer
Plant Operations and Process Engineer
Metallurgist or Corrosion Engineer
Areas covered in RBI include-
Pressure vessels and storage tanks
Emergency shutdown and fire protection systems
Process safeguards such as relief and vent systems and devices, controls, interlocks, sensors and alarms
Pumps and piping systems (including components such as valves)
Quality assurance, materials of construction and reliability engineering
Maintenance and preventive maintenance programmes.
The RBI team should use risk assessment, which may be either qualitative or quantitative, to prioritise plant for inspection. The risk assessment can be broken down into stages,
Identification of potential modes of failure and effects
Assessment of the probability of failure for each mechanism/mode
Assessment of the consequences of equipment failure, which will involve identification of the accident scenarios involving failure of the equipment
Determination of the risk from equipment failure
Risk ranking and categorization
Benefits of implementing RBI Program
Reducing the operating risk of process plant
Provides effective strategies to achieve desired level of mechanical integrity (MI) and plant reliability
Reducing downtime by avoiding unplanned failures
Increases the reliability of equipment
Lowers the safety risks
Optimizes inspection and maintenance costs
Focuses the resources on areas where maintenance is most critical
Enables better budgeting and planning for future inspection, maintenance, and run-repair-replace decisions
Risk-Based Inspection involves planning, implementation and evaluation of examinations to determine the physical and mechanical integrity of equipment or structural integrity in terms of fitness-for-service (FFS). Examination methods include visual surveys and NDT techniques designed to detect the defects, such as ultrasonic testing and radiography.rt of Risk-Based Inspection (RBI) methodology.ogy.
Risk-based inspection (RBI)ludes routine and preventative maintenance developed to reduce the risk but RBI is intended to reduce the operating risk of process plant, Provide strategies to achieve the desired level of mechanical integrity (MI) and reliability of the plant. Inspection should therefore be a proactive, strategic planning process focused on the risk factors that impact safety, reliability and integrity, as well as performance and profitability.lity.ity.ers, changes in operating condition, injection of corrosion inhibition chemicals, etc.
There was an imposter Among Us. This is how I survived.
I was one of the guys who was either desperate enough, or insane enough, to take this job. Nobody in their right mind would apply for a maintenance position at an antarctic research facility, even if the hazard pay was worth it. No amount of money would entice someone to spend months away from civilisation, constantly worrying about radiation, while fumbling around in a bright green hazmat suit all day. But, like I said, I was either desperate enough, or insane enough. On top of the already psychologically damaging and physically treacherous conditions, we became individuals stripped of our identities. Since our hazmat suits were visored to protect us from snow blindness, our employer opted to give us each a different coloured suit for quick identification. The colour of your suit quickly became your name. I, Green, was assessing the airflow in the west wing. Red was assisting me. We were making sure that the large vents that circulated heated air throughout the facility weren’t obstructed, as sometimes they would become clogged with snow during a blizzard. While there was a report of some obstruction, we weren’t able to find anything that would have caused it. “Probably a penguin sliding through.” Red’s voice crackled through the speaker on his suit. “If it was, it’s completely blasted to fuck.” I banged on the vent. “Or a mutant.” “Yeah.” Red laughed. “Right, let’s get back to the showers.” “Can’t wait to get this fuckin’ thing off.” He agreed. We headed on our way back to decontamination, which would then lead to the living quarters - and area insulated from the persistent radiation leaks. As we made smalltalk, walking down the narrow corridors, the shoulders of our suits squeaking against one another, red lights shone from above us. Accompanied by a blaring buzzing sound, the lights flashed rapidly. “Great,” Red said, “let’s turn around, I suppose.” It was amusing to me how casually we had began to take things - radiation leaks, blizzards, and small fires were standard. Red alerts had become so common in the facility that they were almost guaranteed overtime at this point. Both of our wrist-mounted pagers buzzed simultaneously, and I read the pale, glowing screen. EMERGENCY - MEET IN CEN OB. “Well, this is new.” Red perked up. “Mysterious.” I joked. “Off we go.” “Move!” An additional crackling voice shouted. “Hurry up!” Yellow squeezed between us, nearly knocking Red over. Panicking, jittery, on edge Yellow. He was definitely in the desperate subsection of the employees here. I felt like Red and I were both somewhere in the middle of the aforementioned scale of insane and desperate. “Hey, watch it!” Red shouted. “There’s an emergency!” Yellow stumbled around the corner. “When isn’t there?” I nudged Red. We turned the corner, trailing closely behind Yellow - who must’ve been sweating buckets in his suit. Through the corridor, I saw the Central Observation room already populated by the rest of the crew. Black was sat at the far end of the circular table. “Well. Now we’re all here.” Black gestured for myself, Red, and Yellow to sit. “Let’s talk.” He turned to the monitor behind him, and disabled the alarms. “We’re not all here.” Orange chimed in. “White is-” “Dead. White is dead.” Black interrupted. “What?” A number of us cried simultaneously. “I spotted him while on a routine check.” Black continued. “What happened to him?” Blue asked. “He was killed. Stabbed.” Black held his hands together, his gloves interlocked with one another. “How do you know it ain’t an accident?” Pink said. “We’re only getting a live feed from surveillance.” Brown pointed backwards with his thumb to the monitor behind him. “Someone wrecked the hard drive footage gets saved to." We began to argue amongst ourselves, Yellow began panicking and pacing around the room. Pink was shouting loudly enough that I could hear him without the aid of his suit’s speaker. Black slammed his fists down on the table, silencing the group. “Would everyone shut up?” He placed his palms flat in front of him. “Someone in this room knows something.” “What makes you say that?” I asked. Yellow returned to his seat. “Nobody has clocked out today.” Brown chipped in. “None of us have gone through decontamination since we got on shift.” I looked around the room, around our round table. The empty gazes of expressionless visors looked equally suspicious. Black, Brown, Pink, Blue, Orange, Purple, Yellow, Red, and me. “So, like I said, let’s talk.” Black drummed his fingers on the table. “You’ve been quiet, Purple.” “Well, I mean, I don’t know what to say.” He replied. Everyone shifted in their seats, angling themselves towards Purple. “It’s shock, you know?” “Hey, hold up.” Red leaned forwards. “Who put you in charge, Black?” “Yeah!” Purple added. “You’re bossing everyone around!” “I’m in charge, because I found White.” Black pointed at Red. “Sit back down.” “No.” Red stood upright, knocking his chair backwards. “This is bullshit, for all we know, Black killed him!” Red tapped my arm, prompting me to assist him. “Yeah, you gotta admit, how do we know it wasn’t you?” I shrugged, not wanting to get involved in this dispute. “Why don’t we just contact the company?” Yellow stuttered. “Snowstorm.” Pink placed his feet upon the table, leaning backwards in his chair. “Coms are down. Internal communications only.” “Great.” I muttered. We went back and forth for some time. We locked down the facility, informing the crew who weren’t on shift of what had happened. It was decided that nobody could exit through decontamination until the perpetrator had been found. Nobody had blood on their suits, and nobody had any weapons or anything suspicious on their person. Red and I provided our alibis - that we were together for a number of our maintenance tasks. Everyone had some sort of alibi; whether they were believable or not came mostly down to speculation. I was not thrilled by the idea of remaining amongst a group of potential killers, and I was even less thrilled by Pink’s behaviour. How casually he had mentioned the blizzard, and how nonchalantly he placed his feet on the table, crossing his arms. I could only imagine the smug look upon his face as he said it. As we were in the throws of discussing how to catch the perpetrator, a second red alert sounded. “That you?” Blue asked. “Nope,” said Black. “Drill’s busted.” Brown called over from the monitors. “Engineering and maintenance are needed asap.” “Woah woah woah.” Yellow threw his hands up, the helmet of his suit shaking back and forth. “So you mean we still have to work, despite there being a murderer on the loose?” “Well, it’s either that, or the place goes up in flames.” Brown laughed. “How are you all so calm?” Yellow wailed. “Hazard pay.” Blue stood up. “Me, Green, and Red will go.” “Right.” Brown swivelled in his chair. “Pink, see if you can make some sort of contact with the company.” “On it.” Pink gave a thumbs up. “Won’t be able to, though.” He twisted his thumb downwards. “If any of you see anything, or suspect anything.” Black turned away to face the monitors with Brown. “Use your pagers. Meet here. Anyone fails to show up, it’s you.” The throw of us made our way down to the drill, while the others were assigned jobs as other parts of the facility fell apart. The drill was a gargantuan machine, a titan that obliterated the ice beneath it. “Nobody was using the drill.” I closed the door behind me as we approached. “How could it have-” I stopped mid sentence. “Shit.” “Shit.” Red and Blue confirmed. “How does that even happen?” I began to laugh. “This entire place is so scuffed.” Blue grumbled. From the other side of the room, we could all see the problem. The drill bit had fallen out of the drill. The entire drill bit had, somehow, seemingly unfastened and fallen straight into the hole that it had made. By now, it would have sunk to the bottom of the icy depths of the Antarctic sea. The three of us determined that we had no chance of retrieving the fallen drill bit, so we immediately abandoned the task we had been assigned. A perimeter of black and yellow tape surrounded the hole left by the drill. I approached, ducking under the hazard line, and peered into the pit. “Trippy.” I said. “Don’t be an idiot, Green.” Blue followed along behind me, keeping his distance from the pit. “Relax, Blue.” Red stood beside me. “He’s good at being an idiot.” “A little too good.” I sat on the edge of the pit. “Morons.” Blue tutted. “If I was the murderer, you’d both be dead. You know that, right?” “No, we wouldn’t.” Red joined me in looking into the pit, leaning over my shoulder. “They’d know it was you if we didn’t come back.” “It could be any of us,” I said. “Who do you think it is?” Blue asked. “You.” Red and I said in unison. “Assholes.” Blue snickered. Blue messaged Brown on his pager, which was a cumbersome task while wearing the hazmat suit. He informed him of the drill mishap, which prompted a response from Brown for all of us to meet back in Central Observation. The narrow corridors allowed for only two of us to walk side-by-side. As Red and I led the way, the facility experienced yet another mishap - the lighting began to dim, before shutting off completely. “God damn it.” I fumbled around on my helmet. “FUCK.” A voice yelped. A clanging and scuttling sounded above us. “Shit, get your fucking lights on!” I fiddled around with the controls on the side of my helmet, finally illuminating the immediate area around me with my headlamp. Red’s headlamp shortly followed. “Where’s blue?” Red said. We spun around, searching for our colleague. In the dark, a silhouette of Blue’s feet swung from the ventilation shaft above us. “What the fuck?” I reached for Blue’s legs. “Get him down!” Red followed suit, and we pulled Blue’s legs from the vent. But that was the problem - it was only his legs. “Oh God, oh fuck.” Red hyperventilated. A mess of gore trailed from the suited legs that flopped down from the vent, spilling over both me and Red. “No no no, fuck,” I collapsed to the floor, scooting away from the remaining half of Blue’s corpse, “fuck, what the fuck. How did that happen?” “Green.” Red hunched over, his hands on his knees, breathing rapidly. “You know what this looks like.” “No, come on, Red, don’t.” I sat against the narrow corridor wall. “They’re gonna think we did this.” Red took a step closer to me. “No, they won’t, they can’t just say that about us.” I looked up at the looming red suit, that blank visor staring into my soul. “We have to fix this, Green.” Red took another step towards me. “Fix this? How can we fucking fix this?” I shouted, unable to back away any further. “Let’s clean ourselves up.” Red wiped the front of his suit, the blood sticking to his glove. “Say we got separated from Blue in the blackout.” “No, we have to tell them what happened.” I jumped to my feet. “No human could do that in three goddamn seconds.” The lights turned back on. At the far end of the corridor stood a figure. A bright, yellow hazmat suit, with such obtuse body language that I could sense his anxiety from a mile away. He darted to the left, out of sight, down a narrow pathway. “Yellow, wait!” I bellowed, but Red had already began chasing him. I ran after them, stumbling through the winding corridors, barely able to keep up with the thundering pair. The twisting path that Yellow took lead us to the Central Observation room. The three of us skidded to a halt as we reached the table, as we again were the final three to arrive. “Well well well.” Pink slurred, sat in the same position as before. With all the sass of a teenaged girl, I could imagine him popping some bubblegum as he spoke. “Holy heck!” Purple blurted out, jumping away from me and Red as we trailed behind Yellow. I counted a total of seven people remaining in the room. Aside from Blue, the second person missing was Black. Brown was still sat at the monitors, cycling through the cameras. Yellow was babbling incoherently to Purple, and Orange stared silently at me and Red. Pink reached across to tap Brown. “No Blue and Black?” He asked. “Well.” Brown pointed to the camera feed in front of him. “There’s half of Blue.” He clicked past a few more cameras. “And there’s Black with about thirty holes in him.” “And here’s Green and Red,” Pink said, “covered in blood, chasing Yellow, who went off with Blue.” “Oh, shut the fuck up.” I pointed at Pink. “They were stood right by him when I saw them!” Yellow’s stammering plagued his shouting. “Come on, Brown, you must’ve saw something on the cams.” Red pleaded. “Lights went out, bud.” Brown shrugged. “I couldn’t see shit on the monitors.” In Black’s absence, Brown had become the de facto spokesperson for the group - in his role of monitoring the security cameras, he became the only trustworthy person that the group could look towards for information. Red and I, on the other hand, appeared to have been caught red handed. “You’re going to have to trust me.” Red took a seat, and prompted for me to follow. I sat, and Red continued. “Me and Green tried to help Blue while the lights were off. But he was just cut in half. There was nothing we could do.” “No way!” Yellow paced around the room, back and forth from Brown’s monitors to the corner where Purple stood. “When the lights came back on, Yellow was just stood there.” Red gently nudged my leg under the table with his. “Yeah, I, uh.” I took a second to think, unsure of exactly what Red expected me to say. A harder nudge from Red gave me some clarity. “It’s kind of suspicious, Yellow. You were just stood there.” “Yellow sus?” Pink asked. “What do you mean, Yellow sus?” Yellow held his hands to his visor, shaking his head. “You have got to be kidding me.” “Purple, Orange,” Brown said, “what do you two think?” “I’m not getting involved in this.” Orange said, still facing towards me and Red. “Yellow,” Purple said from his corner, as Yellow paced away, “you’re acting really weird.” “I’m acting weird?” Yellow screamed. “Three people have died, and I’m acting weird?” An argument broke out amongst our peers, as Red and I watched chaos unfold. I understood that Red just wanted us to be safe from the suspicions of our peers, but there was no way that Yellow could have been the killer. That nervous wreck couldn’t even shave without panicking, let alone cut a man in half and keep his cool. The cogs in my mind began to turn, as Red watched coldly on. I could imagine a smirk, or a menacing grin, or perhaps a knowing wink, on the face of my friend. I felt myself beginning to suspect Red, though it couldn’t have been him. We were both together the entire time. He could have pushed me into the pit. It couldn’t have been Red. Could it? “Red, Green.” Brown stood, leaving his monitoring station for the first time since the inciting incident. “Is Yellow the killer?” “Yes.” Red, without missing a beat, dropped a harsh accusation onto the innocent party. “I’m taking no chances.” Brown marched towards Yellow, grabbing him by the arm. “Green, get over here.” Through the narrow corridors, Brown and I stood side-by-side. Behind us, we dragged Yellow, kicking and screaming, by his arms. The rest of the crew followed along behind us. A rambling jumble of violent words and erratic motions came from Yellow as we pulled his flailing body to the drill room. That mechanical monstrosity that towered above a bottomless pit of frost-bitten white and black. “Are we really doing this?” I asked Brown. “Yes.” He hoisted Yellow around, and both of us restrained him. “I don’t think I can.” I muttered. “I don’t think we have a choice.” Pink said. “Someone has got to go.” “You do it then!” I left Brown to restrain Yellow by himself. “Fine.” Pink took my place, assisting Brown with the immediate struggle that Yellow put up. The scream that echoed from the pit as Yellow plummeted to his inevitable end in the frozen ocean was deafening. It was abrasive, loud. I could hear it scratching at Yellow’s throat. His guttural screams were silenced by his clattering against the walls of the pit. A faint splash concluded the macabre symphony. I knew that we had all sentenced an innocent man to his demise, but I felt a small sense of relief that it wasn’t me plummeting down the pit. That was the only thing that kept me from vomiting inside my suit at the framing of Yellow. The snowstorm battered at the fabric of the drill room - that was more of an external canopy than an actual room - like a white noise it distracted me from the deed I had been an accomplice to. Red stood strong, remnants of Blue still bare to see upon his suit. I slouched, and looked down at my red gloves that should’ve been Green. Knowingly sentencing an innocent man to death took its toll on me. I followed the rest of the crew to the Central Observation room, but I kept my head down and dragged my feet. To the best of my knowledge, there was still a killer among us, and we were down four crew mates. Green, Red, Pink, Brown, Purple, and Orange. I knew it wasn’t me. It can’t have been Red, I was sure of it. Brown seemed eager to dump Yellow into the pit, as did Pink. Purple turned on Yellow without a second thought. Orange had been far too quiet for my liking. Red’s instant decision to ostracise Yellow instead of try to explain the situation made me question him, too. Maybe he truly believed it was Yellow. Maybe he was just worried that he would be accused of being the killer. What worried me more than the uncanny behaviour of my colleagues, however, was the speed and ferocity with which the killer bisected Blue. Whoever it was - whatever it was - was incredibly efficient at killing. I didn’t feel like performing duties to assist with the upkeep of the facility any longer. It made me feel vulnerable to have to walk around this collapsing relic of a building. In that moment, I then felt how Yellow must have. Fear. Paranoia. Anxiety. Vulnerability. A persistent worry that, somehow, something will go wrong. Premonitions of Pink piercing me with a palmed blade pervaded my mind. It had to be him. How willing he was to step up to the mark and throw Yellow into the pit. In those mere moments that Yellow plummeted, I could picture Pink grinning perversely. I knew that I had to catch him in the act, but I had no idea how. I hoped that perhaps Brown would see him on the security monitors, but I didn’t trust Brown entirely either. “That’s that sorted.” Brown clapped his hands together, as if he was dusting them off. “What if it wasn’t him?” Orange piped up. “Then it’s Red,” said Pink. Red was about to interpolate with some retort, when he was interrupted by yet another red alert. Something that needed fixing, we would have to make our way back to Central Observation to see exactly what it was. Brown informed us, after checking the facility diagnostics, that there was a problem with the central communications server. Orange, the computer engineer, was tasked with inspecting it. Pink, communications specialist, would assist him, and so would Red and I. That left Purple and Brown alone to monitor the cameras. Red and I hung back from Orange and Pink, keeping our distance enough to communicate with each other about the rest of the crew. “I don’t trust Pink.” I said, matter-of-factly “I don’t either. Smug prick.” Red muttered. “It wasn’t Yellow, you know.” I whispered, though loud enough that it would be audible through the suit’s speaker-system. “Rather him than us. Right, Green?” “We could’ve explained it. I dunno. It feels really fucked up.” “Self preservation.” Red trailed a hand along the wall beside him. Pink and Orange were murmuring to one another ahead of us, probably having much the same conversation about us. Red and I agreed that Pink’s behaviour was disagreeable, to say the least. As calm as everyone had acted, nobody had behaved quite like Pink. “Right, let’s check it out.” Orange slid the door open. “We’re up shit creek without a paddle if we can’t get pagers back up, since we have no external coms with the company. Any luck with that, Pink?” “I keep telling everyone. Snowstorm.” Pink banged his hands on the wall as he followed Orange inside. Red put a subtle middle finger up behind Pink’s back as he entered behind him. “Let’s just get this over with.” I said. The server room was small, box-like. The exact opposite of the vast expanse that was the drill room. Three towers, equidistant from one another, were the object of our focus. I didn’t see how much help I could be, I was a maintenance man. I supposed that additional company couldn’t hurt, given the situation. It wouldn’t be wise to leave anyone alone with Pink. Once all four of us were inside the room, Orange closed the door. “Hey, what’s that for?” I tried to stop him. “I know it wasn’t Yellow.” Orange grabbed my wrist. “It could still be Brown or Purple. Or Pink, or Red, or you.” I saw my bloodied suit reflected in his visor, and I realised exactly how I must’ve looked to my colleagues. It was much more noticeable on my green suit than it was on Red’s. “Nobody leaves, or enters, until we’re done here.” Pink added. Orange assessed the third tower, the only one which wasn’t powered on, and found the source of the problem. There was no problem with the tower itself, it was simply the case that a fuse had blown. I bent over to replace the fuse, and as I finished, I heard a scuffle behind me. I jerked around to look, and the door was open. Everyone had disappeared. I Poked my head around the corner to see where everyone had went. I crept forwards, being sure to keep an eye out for any vents from which someone could spring. As I hugged the wall, I found myself able to position myself behind a maintenance trolley, able to peek over the top at an unused clearing. It was once a common area, before the frequent radiation leaks made it unusable prior to the arrival of the current crew. Placed perfectly upon a middle table, was Pink, perforated and pouring blood. The holes in his suit were like fountains. Stood beside him was Red. “Hey!” Red shouted. “Someone! Green?” Pink’s fingers twitched as Red lifted him. Pink was still alive. I heard the groaning of old metal, and spied a vent in the far corner of the room. “Pink wasn’t the killer! Come help us!” Red hoisted Pink up onto his shoulders. As I was about to dash forwards to assist Red, a single thought stopped me. What if this was bait? I knelt, watching Red help Pink. It was a useless endeavour. His hazmat suit was filled with holes - if his wounds didn’t kill him, the radiation would. Red helping Pink didn’t make any sense. The vent behind them groaned again. The earlier distaste Red expressed for Pink doubled my suspicions. “Come on!” Red pleaded. I ignored his cries for help. It had to be him. I turned tail, and sprinted to what had become the investigatory hub. In Central Observation, hunched over a computer desk, Brown still sat. “Hey, Brown!” I shouted. I received no response. I walked over to him. “Brown?” In his chair, Brown was slumped over his keyboard. Blood dripped down from his helmet, a smattering of red dripping across the keys. A hole from behind his head, passing through and shattering the front of his visor. Pieces of tinted visor were strewn about the the desk. I slammed my hand down on the emergency button that Brown had used to sound the red alert earlier. My trembling fingers typed out the same message on the now up-and-running paging system. EMERGENCY - MEET IN CEN OB. And there we were. Three. Red, Purple, and Green. “Where’s Pink?” Asked Purple. “Where’s Orange?” I asked. “It’s just us, isn’t it?” Purple stood as far away from us as the room would allow. I was following the same safety measures. Red was carelessly standing besides the central table. “So that means it’s one of us.” Red grimaced. “Yeah.” I flittered my gaze between both Red and Purple. Neither of them gave anything away. They were both cold, faceless entities in my wake. Someone with a more observant eye might’ve been able to determine something by their body-language, but I was far too nervous to even begin to consider doing that. The two of them exchanged words, but the meanings of whatever they said slipped through my mind like an incorporeal sludge. Their conversation was white noise in the background, as the machinations of my thoughts manifested a single dark thread, that was woven into a sinful tapestry. “It’s one of you two.” I said. “Hey!” Purple pointed the metaphorical finger at me. “How do I know it wasn’t you?” “Green was replacing the fuse in the server room.” Red vouched. “That’s when the door opened, and Pink and Orange both ran out.” “Why did they run out?” I directed my attention to Red. “How should I know?” Red threw his hands outwards. “When I followed them out Orange was gone, and Pink was dead.” “So it’s him!” Purple shouted. “You’ve gotta see that, Green!” “Hey, we don’t even know where Orange is.” Red shouted back. The two began hurling insults back and forth, and I spied the monitors. Rolling Brown out of the way, the wheels of his chair squeaking as I did so, I crouched by the screen. Rapidly clicking through the various camera feeds, I found what I was looking for. “Over here.” I projected my voice above the rabble of their argument. “Orange’s legs just around the corner from the server room.” The two stopped, and turned to the monitors. “Damn,” Red said. “So, now I’m going to ask you each a few questions.” I turned to face my first defendant. “Red, where were you when Pink was killed?” “I was running after them. I went around the corner and Pink was already dead.” Red responded. “Why did you leave me in the server room to follow them?” “I don’t know, I saw them running and I followed. I don’t know why they did it.” Red’s voice became more panicked as he tried to explain himself. “Who opened the door?” I asked. “It was opened from the outside. It had to have been Purple.” Red began to babble. “And you.” I turned to Purple. “Where were you when Brown was killed?” “There was a problem with the heating system, Brown told me to fix it before we all froze to death!” Purple shifted incessantly as I questioned him. “Why didn’t I pass you on my way back to Central?” I said, calmly, adjusting my stance. “What?” Purple backed away. “I was inside the boiler room, right beside the heating unit.” “Why?” “I heard running down the corridor.” Purple explained. “So I hid in there on my way back, but it must’ve been you.” “Oh. Red, did you pass by the boiler room?” I asked. “No.” Red said. “I didn’t go that way, either.” “He’s lying!” Purple screamed. “It has to be him!” “Green, come on.” Red placed a hand on my shoulder. “You were right there, whoever killed Blue was in the fucking vent. Did you see me crawl around in the Goddamn vent?” “Would both of you just shut the fuck up for one second?” I shouted at them both, swatting Red’s hand away. “One of you is going down the fucking pit.” “Green.” Red lowered his tone. “I vouched for you. If it was me, I’d have told Purple it was you.” “That’s bullshit.” Purple raised his tone. “That’s what he wants you to think, he’s manipulating you!” “Enough!” I slammed my fists on the table, in much the same way Black had earlier. “We are walking to the pit, all three of us.” I walked behind Red and Purple, pressing them onwards. Armed with Brown’s wheeled office chair, I prodded at their backs to push them forwards. Whichever one of them it was knew that, if they tried anything, the other would come to my aid instantly. The two professed their innocence to me as I marched them onwards to the drilling room. When we arrived, the two stood outside the boundary of the hazard tape’s perimeter. I, with office chair still in hand, trembled. I knew that I would be committing a murder, and I might not know if I had condemned an innocent man until it was too late. “Red was eager to kill Yellow, you know.” Purple muttered. “Yeah, and you were quick to turn on him.” I raised the chair. “Neither of you can use that shit here.” “You know why I did that.” Red said, and for the first time I sensed worry in his tone. “I was protecting us.” “Oh, please.” Purple mocked. “He was protecting himself. He wants you to trust him. That’s what this has all been about!” “I know this is hard,” Red began, “but you just have to trust me. It’s me, it’s Red. You know me.” “That’s such crap!” Purple fretted. “He’s an imposter.” “You’re full of shit, Purple.” Red turned, pushing Purple’s arm. “Fuck you.” “You throw me into that pit, and he’ll kill you right after.” Purple edged away from Red. “Look, he can barely control his anger now.” “Green.” Red wavered. “Come on, you’re not buying this, right?” “I know, Red.” I shuffled forwards. “But the only person I saw with Pink was you.” “What? I was trying to help him!” Red clasped his hands together. “I saw you there, and I thought you were baiting me.” I admitted. “If I was standing there baiting you,” Red said, “when would I have had time to go and kill Brown?” It seemed obvious, now that Red said it. Red had a solid alibi, in the sense that the only time he was out of my sight was in the moments I traced his steps out of the server room. Purple, on the other hand, could have easily been crawling around in the vents - I hadn’t seen him once in the entire time I had been walking around the facility. “Well.” Purple shrugged. “I can see this isn’t working.” His entire demeanour changed. With a furious speed, Purple extended an arm and struck Red in his temple. In a second swift motion, he swept Red’s legs from under him. “Mother fucker!” I readied the chair to throw at Purple, but a seam opened on his stomach. Sloshing goo spilled from his midsection, and a dozen writhing, black, sopping tendrils wormed their way from the gaping maw that had appeared on Purple’s suit. In my hesitation, Purple saw an opportunity. I was aghast at what he was, or what he had become. I stared at the screeching mouth, its rows of sharp teeth hypnotising me with fear. The tendrils sprung forth from the abomination, and ripped the chair from my hands, pulling it towards him. Red leapt to his feet, springing forth to take the chair from where it had fallen. He swung it at Purple, pushing him backwards towards the pit. The hazard tape ripped as Purple stumbled backwards over it. The still-squirming tendrils blocked the successive blows of the chair, but Red kept pummelling him. The squirming Purple finally managed to knock aside his adversary, and I rushed forwards to Red. As I was making my dash to finally knock Purple into the pit, when a single tendril shot towards me. The spiked appendage was aimed right towards my face. A lolling tongue drooped above the bottom row of teeth, the faux lips upturned in a smile. As the spike sprung towards me, my vision was obscured by a dark spray. I tumbled backwards, landing flat on my back. Quickly wiping my visor, I saw my friend. Red stood between me and Purple - poking from his back was the tendril that had been intended for me. Red stumbled forwards, impaling himself further on Purple’s spike. The rest of the tendrils rapidly pierced Red as he approached Purple. Still, as if he was built of sheer determination, Red pressed onwards. Meeting Purple at the edge of the pit, Red fell forwards. Then, clattering, the pair hurtled downwards. The harmony of screeching, stabbing, and colliding ended with the same gentle, distant splash that had ended Yellow’s closing number. A man whose name I never knew, who I had suspected of unforgivable crimes, who had so instinctively prioritised his own survival, had sacrificed himself. Whether it was for me, or another reason I am unsure of, I don’t know. Whatever it was, I am, and always will be, grateful. Thank you, Red. After that, my final task was the most arduous. I needed to get my colleagues in the living quarters to believe me.
what is hazard identification and assessment video
Hazard Identification and Assessment One of the "root causes" of workplace injuries, illnesses, and incidents is the failure to identify or recognize hazards that are present, or that could have been anticipated. A critical element of any effective safety and health program is a proactive, ongoing process to identify and assess such hazards. The Hazard Assessment Checklist | Hazard Identification. Workplace Safety Checklist. Safety Inspection Checklist. Hazard Assessment Checklist. Hazard Identification Checklist. Hazard Identification. What Is A Hazard Checklist? Hazard Identification Checklist And Risk Assessment. Hazard Checklist Definition. A hazard identification checklist, also known as a hazard assessment form, is a tool used by safety officers in performing hazard assessments. The main purpose of a hazard assessment is to identify potential health and safety hazards by examining conditions or practices in the workplace. Hazard Identification Process. A- The HIP procedure has pictures to help remind supervisors of points they should be discussing with the workforce and in assessing workplace hazards. B-The aim is to get workers to identify hazards for themselves and to encourage them to recommend the controls needed. 1. Aims and Objectives. The objective of the Job to be done; Workforce understands their job There are three steps used to manage health and safety at work. Spot the Hazard (Hazard Identification) Assess the Risk (Risk Assessment) Make the Changes (Risk Control) At work you can use these three ThinkSafe steps to help prevent accidents. What is HIRA & Objective of HIRA: The objective of the Hazard Identification Risk Assessment (HIRA) is to identifying and assessing the hazard associated during the construction of the project and thereby controlling the risk by implementing mitigation measures before the start of the work to avoid the incident. Hazard: Anything (e.g. condition, situation, practice, behaviour) that has the potential to cause harm, including injury, disease, death, environmental, property and equipment damage. A hazard can be a thing or a situation. Hazard Identification: This is the process of examining each work area and work task for the purpose of identifying all Hazard identification is part of the process used to evaluate if any particular situation, item, thing, etc. may have the potential to cause harm. The term often used to describe the full process is risk assessment: Identify hazards and risk factors that have the potential to cause harm (hazard identification). Hazard identification is a key component in your safety management arsenal. Hazard identification is the first line of defence against incidents, injuries, deaths and unforeseen project and asset costs. In order to properly document and inform other stakeholders and workers of hazards, you need to improve your hazard identification process. risk assessment and its work - Risk assessment is a term used to describe the overall process or method where you: Identify hazards and risk factors that have the potential to cause harm (hazard identification). | PowerPoint PPT presentation | free to view
HIRA - Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment - YouTube
(HIRA) Hazard identification and risk assessment what is Hira in hindi Hira format PDFAll safety notes 👉 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com... About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features Press Copyright Contact us Creators ... The next 3 chapters (Hazard ID or identification, Hazard Assessment and Hazard Controls) form the core of your H&S system because these processes will identify what things could hurt your ... Hi Friends, I have tried to explain Hazard Identification & Risk Assessment (HIRA) activity. This is a quick video explaining the basics of HIRA. If you have any query pls feel free to email or ... Hazard identification and risk assessment is a process to identify existing hazard and risk at the workplace. In this video you can learn how to conduct risk... Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (HIRA).contact us at: https://www.himpre.com/Learn more at: https://safety.ohse.in/Hazards at workplace remain sign... This online Hazard Identification course will help keep you safe on the job by showing you how to prevent injuries and illness in the workplace through hazar... Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment This video will assist Prevention Officers in understanding the definition of Risk versus Hazard, and the steps to conduct a quantitative risk assessment. Hazard: Anything (e.g. condition, situation, practice, behavior) that has the potential to cause harm, including injury, disease, death, environmental, prope...
